JULY 1st 1997

IN ISRAEL

One hundred and thirty-nine new PhD degrees were awarded, 50 in Humanities and Law, and 89 in the Sciences. Keynote speaker at the ceremony was Prof. Shlomo Biderman, Chairperson of the Philosophy Department, who spoke on "Between Knowledge and Reason."

A concert by the TAU Samuel Rubin Israeli Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Prof. Ami Mayaani, was held in honor of outgoing Rector Prof. Dan Amir.

CONFERENCES

The Pinhas Sapir Economic Policy Forum founded by Samuel Rothberg, of the TAU Pinhas Sapir Center for Development and the Maurice Falk Institute for Economic Research in Israel, held a conference concluding the project "Land Policy and Housing Markets in Israel." This was followed by a symposium entitled "Who Will Be the Entrepreneur, Who Will Be the Planner and Who Will Build on Israeli Land," moderated by Prof. Efraim Sadka of TAU's Eitan Berglas School of Economics, Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences.

The Berglas School held its annual two-week summer workshop "Economics in Tel Aviv 1997" organized by Prof. Zvi Eckstein.

The Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation held a workshop on "Regional Security Structure." Greetings at the opening session were delivered by Prof. Zeev Maoz, Head of the JCSS; Johannes Gerster, the Adenauer Foundation representative; and Prof. Marcelo Dascal, Dean of the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities. A panel discussion followed, with the participation of TAU's Dr. Dore Gold, political advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Prof. Janice Gross, University of Toronto.

The Department of Linguistics and the Shirley and Leslie Porter School of Cultural Studies, the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities, hosted Prof. Noam Chomsky of MIT who delivered a lecture entitled "Language as a Natural Object: Some Reflection on Optimal Design."

The Association of Deans of the Faculties of Medicine in Israel held a conference at TAU entitled "Using Multimedia in the Instruction of Medical Disciplines," moderated by Dr. Shlomi Kodesh of Ben-Gurion University. Opening remarks were given by Dean of the TAU Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Elieser Kaplinsky.

"Israel 1967-1997 -- Implications of the Six Day War for the State of Israel" was the title of the annual conference held by TAU's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies in memory of General David Elazar. Among the lecturers were Members of the Knesset Shim on Peres and TAU Prof. Shlomo Ben-Ami.

The first international conference on the "Application of Micropaleontology in Environmental Sciences" was held at TAU under the auspices of the Porter Super-Center for Ecological and Environmental Studies; the Institute for Nature Conservation Research; and the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences. The Conference was organized by Prof. Valentina Yanko of TAU.

Prof. Itamar Rabinovich of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies and Prof. Zeev Maoz, Head of the JCSS, delivered lectures at the Advocate Moshe (Mosh) Haviv Annual Conference entitled "Israel-Syria 1967-1997."

The Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Studies' Public Policy Program held a conference on the publication of the book, Tel Aviv -Yaffo Studies: Social Processes and Public Policy. Opening remarks were delivered by Mayor of Tel Aviv, Roni Milo, Deputy Chairperson of the TAU Board of Governors..

The Sackler Faculty of Medicine's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology held a conference entitled "The Right to Parenthood -- Social, Medical, Judiciary and Ethical Implications."

The Buchmann Faculty of Law held a memorial evening for the late Prof. Ariel Rosen-Zvi, former Dean. A lecture was given by Justice Aharon Barak, President of the Israeli Supreme Court, entitled "Constitution, Religion and State." Addresses were delivered by Law Dean Prof. Eli Lederman and Assaf Rosen-Zvi.

The Prof. Dr. Raphael Taubenschlag Institute of Criminal Law, Buchmann Faculty of Law, held an international conference on "Civil Rights," organized by Dr. Andrei Marmor. The German-Israeli Workshop on Microoptics was held at TAU, involving cooperation between researchers at TAU and Karlsruhe Research Institute in Germany (Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe). Opening remarks and an introduction to TAU were presented by Prof. Emanuel Marom, Dean of Research and Development, and for Karlsruhe Institute by Prof. Manfred Popp.

The TAU Morris E. Curiel Center for International Studies and the Israel-Argentina Friendship Association hosted Dr. Ruben Beraja, DAIA President, President of the Latin America Jewish Congress and Vice President of the World Jewish Congress, who gave a lecture entitled "The Situation of the Jewish Community in Argentina: Image and Reality." Opening remarks were given by Mr. Benno Gitter, Chairman of the TAU Board of Governors. Greetings were given by Dr. Jose Maria V. Otegui, Ambassador of Argentina to Israel, and Prof. Eli Barnavi, Director of the Curiel Center.

APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS

Prof. Noga Alon of the School of Mathematical Sciences, Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, was appointed a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Prof. Herbert Judes of the Department of Operative Dentistry was elected Dean of the Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine.

Prof. Joshua Jortner of the TAU School of Chemistry, Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, was elected a Foreign Associate of the American National Academy of Sciences.

Prof. Lev Fishelson of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences was elected a member of the Erfurt Academy of Sciences (The Akademie Gemeinnuetziger Wissenschaften zu Erfurt), Germany.

TAU's Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering named as Honorary Fellow Elisha Yanai, General Manager of Motorola Communications Israel, MCIL and Vice President, Land Mobile Products Sector, Motorola Inc., USA.. The award, the second ever to be given, was bestowed at the Faculty's BSc and MSc awards ceremony in the presence of Roni Milo, Mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

VISITS

The Presidents Mission to Israel of the USA United Negro College Fund were guests of TAU. They toured the campus and met with Rector Prof. Dan Amir and with faculty members. The mission was sponsored by the America-Israel Friendship League.

ABROAD

The Howard Gilman International Conference on Mediterranean Cultural Interaction, directed by Prof. Asher Ovadiah, incumbent of the Hannelore Kipp Chair in the Study of Art History, was held in Rethymno, Crete. Opening greetings were given by TAU President Professor Yoram Dinstein; Prof. Ovadiah; and Prof. Dimitris J. Kyrtatas of the University of Crete. Master of ceremonies was Prof. Yiannis Meimris. The Conference was attended by scholars from Australia, Greece, Israel, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

COMING EVENTS

The Third TAU Riviera Meeting will take place in Monaco on July 20-23, 1997. For registration call Ilana Papo, Public Relation Division, Tel. 972-3-6408769 or Fax, 972-3-640614.

The Third Annual North American Conference will take place in Toronto, on September 18-21, 1997, at the Sheraton Hotel. For further information contact Lyn Ben-Dat, Tel. (416) 787 9930, Fax (416) 787 1762.

OBITUARIES

Member of the TAU Board of Governors, Morris Kaufman of Toronto, Canada has passed away.