MARCH 1, 1998

IN ISRAEL

Prof. Moshe Gil, Prof. Emeritus of the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies and incumbent of the Joseph and Ceil Mazer Chair in the History of the Jews in Muslim Lands, will be awarded the Israel Prize for Research in the Humanities in the category of the land of Israel and its people during the early Moslem Period. The Prize is being awarded to him for his monumental work in the study of 846 documents and letters of the Geniza in Cairo and for his contribution to research of the history of the Jews of Babylon, Persia and Italy and their place in the economy of the early middle ages.

Mothers Day was celebrated by TAU staff. Addresses were delivered by Prof. Nili Cohen, Rector, and David Lanir, Director-General. Dr. Hana Naveh, Chairperson of the Women Studies Forum at TAU, delivered a lecture on the poetry of the renowned Israeli poet Dalia Rabikowitz, whose poetry was read by the actress Liora Rivlin accompanied by an original music performance. The event was moderated by the Administrative Staff Council Chairperson, Ms. Drora Rosen.

The November 1997 cover story of Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism is the work of TAU's Prof. Zvi Naor of the Biochemistry Department, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, entitled "Protein Kinase C and the Mammalian Spermatozoa Acrosome Reaction."

CONFERENCES

TAU's Project on the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities held a conference to present the Anti-Semitism and Hate Groups Database of Contemporary Anti-Semitism on CD-ROM and in the Internet in the English language. The electronic information is published by Ziur Information Systems, partner of Silver Platter in Israel, using Silver Platter software. Dr. Avi Becker, Chairman of the Israeli chapter of the Jewish World Congress, and Dr. Dina Porath, the Project Director, discussed the issue of Swiss Jewish gold and its implications for the Jewish People. TAU's Dr. Ron Zweig talked about databases in the service of research. The conference was chaired by Prof. Yehuda Nini, Head of the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies.

The Herczeg Institute for Aging hosted Prof. James E. Birren, associate director of the Gerontology Center of UCLA, who gave a guest lecture entitled "The State of Theory in Gerontology."

Prof. Birren also delivered the first Bergman Fund lecture: "Is Gerontology Ready for the Next Century - Promises and Pitfalls." Greetings at the inauguration ceremony of the lectureship series were delivered by Prof. Judah Eisenberg, TAU Vice Rector; Prof. Jacob Lomranz of the TAU Herczeg Institute for Aging; and Prof. Amiela Globersohn, Chairperson of the Israeli Society of Gerontology.

TAU's School of Education held a conference on ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), chaired by Prof. Malka Margalit.

The Jewishness of the Dead Sea Scrolls was the title of a conference of the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies. A lecture was delivered by Prof. Philip R. Davies of the University of Sheffield, England. The conference was chaired by Prof. Israel Finkelstein, Head of TAU's Nadler Institute of Archaeology.

The TAU-affiliated Interdisciplinary Center for Technological Analysis and Forecasting held a conference entitled "Emerging Technologies and Their Influence on Society," which was chaired by Dr. Yair Sharan, the Center's Deputy Director.

The TAU Friends Business Forum visited the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering. Prof. Shmuel Einav, Associate Dean, delivered a lecture on the artificial heart.

Dr. Sa'eb Erakat, Minister of Local Government of the Palestinian National Authority, was the guest lecturer of the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research annual fellowship and scholarship awarding conference, entitled "The Peace Process - Where To?" Grants were awarded to PhD student Enrico Molinero of the International Relations Department, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; and to TAU master's students Avi Raz of the School of History and Asmar Najalla of the Department of Psychology. Senior research grants were awarded to Prof. Rachel Alterman, of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, incumbent of the Azrieli Chair for Architecture and Urban Planning; Prof. Gerald Cromer of the Criminology Department, Bar-Ilan University; Dr. Bruce Maddy-Weitzman of TAU's Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies; and Dr. Nadim Mseis of Bir Zeit University.

Prof. Dr. Dietmar Willoweit of Wurtzburg gave the guest lecture of the Diaspora Research Institute, "Toleration, Prosecution and Expulsion of the Jews in the Holy Roman Empire 1350-1519."

The International Forum of the English Speaking Friends and TAU's Department of Political Science hosted Australian Ambassador Ian Wilcock who delivered a speech entitled "Australia and Israel: Old Friends/New Prospects? " The event was chaired by Prof. Aharon Kleiman.

TAU hosted the annual meeting of the Israel Society of Microbiology, organized by the Society President Prof. Liora Ron of TAU's Department of Microbiology; Prof. Sara Lavi of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences; and Prof. Itzhak Ofek of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Guest lecturers were Prof. Bryan W.J. Mahy, Director of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia, and Prof. A. Chakrabarty of the University of Illinois, Chicago. A round table discussion on emerging infectious diseases in Israel and anthrax was moderated by Prof. Bracha Rager, Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Health.

SHILUVIM, the TAU Fleischman Faculty of Engineering alumni club, inaugurated the Project Management Forum, chaired by Yariv Lotan. The Sackler Faculty of Medicine's School of Continuing Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' MASHAV held a ceremony at which certificates were awarded to participants of the 26th course of International Postgraduate Training in Medicine. Dr. Stephen Wanyee of Kenya gave an address on behalf of the training physicians.

TAU hosted the annual meeting of the Israeli Association of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Israeli Biophysical Society.

APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS

Prof. Yosef Shiloh of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine was awarded the Teva Prize for 1996-97 in memory of the Teva pharmaceutical company's founders. Dr. Idit Ben-Baruch of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences' Department of Cell Research and Immunology is the recipient of the Moshe Shamir Young Researchers Scholarship of Teva; Prof. Mia Horowitz of the same department was awarded the Dr. Moshe Groto Scholarship.

Prof. Shmuel Kandel, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Management-Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration, was appointed the incumbent of the Maurice and Gertrude Deutch Chair for Research in Finance and Accounting.

VISITS

A delegation of the Florida Business Institute visited on campus. Participants were from Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton: Dr. Mary McBride, Vice President; Dr. Stanley Dunn, Chair of the Ocean Engineering Department; Dr. William Stronge, Chair of the Economics Department; and Clara Colman, Vice President for University Advancement.

Evgeni Smirnov, Director General of the Department of International Science and Technology Cooperation, and Dr. Gennady Lukiyanov, Executive Secretary of the Russian-Israeli Mixed Commission on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, both of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation, visited TAU.

Ambassador of Cyprus to Israel, Mr. Euripides L. Evriviades, visited the Learning Center of the Division of Foreign Languages and the Wiener Library on campus and met with TAU President Professor Yoram Dinstein.

OBITUARIES

TAU mourns the passing of Norma Moreno Curiel, Member of the TAU Board of Governors and active friend of the Curaçao TAU Friends Association.

COMING EVENTS

The 1998 Board of Governors Meeting will take place on May 15-22. For registration contact: Yona Gabai, Head of Office of Public Events, Tel 972-3-6407199/6407200. Fax: 972-3-6408601