April 1st, 1998

IN ISRAEL

TAU deeply mourns the passing of Vice Rector Prof. Judah Eisenberg of the School of Physics, former Dean of the Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences and incumbent of the Yuval Ne'eman Chair in Theoretical Nuclear Physics. A Jubilee Le cture Series, sponsored by the Rector, to be held during the first week of May, will be dedicated to his memory. The German Friends of the University announced their plans to establish a chair in the name of Prof. Eisenberg, who was an Honorary Doctor of the University of Frankfurt.

The March 20, 1998 issue of identifying the mutated gene for deafness in an Israeli family.

CONFERENCES

The Adams Super Center for Brain Studies held its annual symposium, entitled "The Annie Adams Annual Symposium". Prof. David Horn, Director of the Center, eulogized Mrs. Adams. Two 1998 grant recipients delivered lectures on their research: Dr. Oren Becker of the School of Chemistry on "Modeling the 3 Dimensional Structure of G-Protein Coupled Receptors" and Prof. Lily Vardimon of the Department of Biochemistry on "Glutamine Synthetase: An Endogenous Mechanism for Neuroprotection. " Dr. Dimitri Karusis of the Hadassah Neurology Department spoke on "Pathogenesis and Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis."

Mrs. Reuma Weizman, wife of President Ezer Weizman, was guest of honor of the Meyerhoff Technical College High School. Mrs. Weizman presented teaching certificates to student teachers within the framework of a project in which 12th grade students teach at the school as part of their matriculation requirements.

A project for distant learning via satellite in medicine, the first of its kind in Israel, was inaugurated at the TAU-affiliated Assaf Harofe Hospital, with the participation of Dean of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine Prof. Elies er Kaplinsky and Vice Dean Prof. Menachem Fainaru. The project, jointly initiated by TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine (academic side); Dr. Ives Biton of Second Opinion; Bezekol (communications); and Arel (software), started with a pilot in internal medic ine, broadcasting lectures of TAU professors from a center to five hospitals around the country.

The title of this semester's Rector's Lecture Series is "The Biblical Revolution: Art and Ideology." The lectures are being delivered by Prof. Meir Sternberg of the Department of Poetics and Comparative Literature, Entin Faculty of Humanities.

The TAU Friends Business Forum held a joint meeting with TAU's Interdisciplinary Center for Technological Analysis and Forecasting, chaired by Chairperson of the Forum, Prof. Seev Neumann of the Faculty of Management - Leon Recana ti Graduate School of Business Administration. Prof. Avi Degani of the Geography Department gave a talk entitled "From Popolitica (an Israel TV popular talk show) to Aman Mall - Marketing Polls," and Prof. Ephraim Yaar, Director of the Tami Steinmetz Cent er for Peace Research, spoke on "Uses and Abuses of Public Polls."

The TAU Pinhas Sapir Center for Development and the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF) held a three-day congress entitled "Immigrants and Their Transition to a New Labor Market," organized by Pr of. Zvi Eckstein and Prof. Yoram Weiss of the Berglas School of Economics. A day-long conference was held within the framework of the Congress entitled "Immigration Policies - What Did We Learn and What Can We Do?

The first lecture of the 1998 Aharon Katzir Memorial Lectures, "In the Smelt of Revolution," was given by Dr. Estherit Beltzan on the relationship between a Beethoven sonata, Opus 32 no. 2, and Shakespeare's The Tempest. The introd uction was presented by Prof. Arie Vardi of TAU's Samuel Rubin Israeli Academy of Music.

The Diaspora Research Institute held a conference celebrating the publication of volume 15-16 of GALED of the Center for Research of the History of Polish Jewry. The conference was chaired by Dr. David Assa f, and opening remarks were delivered by Prof. Shlomo Simonsohn.

Prof. Dietmar Willoweit of Wurtzburg University delivered a lecture at the Diaspora Research Institute entitled "Toleration, Prosecution, and Expulsion of the Jews in the Holy Roman Empire 1350-1519". The event was chaired by Prof. Jeremy Cohen of the Department of Jewish History.

The Morris E. Curiel Center for International Studies and the Terrorism Studies Program of George Washington University held an international seminar entitled "Information Warfare in the 21st Century: Threats and Responses," and "S elf-Determination: National, Regional and Global Dimensions." The seminar was co-chaired by Prof. Eli Barnavi, Director of the Curiel Center, and Prof. Yonah Alexander, Director of the George Washington University Terrorism Studies Program.

TAU's Prof. Yuval Ne'eman and Prof. Yonah Alexander held an international scientific conference entitled "Threats in the Technological Era: Terror on the Internet, Super-Terror, and Global Warming" sponsored by the Holon Technolog ical Education Center, the TAU Curiel Center, and the George Washington University Terrorism Studies Program.

The annual award ceremony of the Hendrik and Irene Gutwirth Research Prize in Diabetes Mellitus was held with the participation of Mrs. Vivien Zimmet and Prof. Paul Zimmet and was moderated by Prof. Ina Fabian, Vice Dean of the Sa ckler Faculty of Medicine. Lectures were delivered by prize recipients Dr. Halkin and Prof. Ehud Grossman of the Internal Medicine Department; Prof. Ehud Skutelsky of the Department of Pathology; and Dr. Rachel Dankner of the Department of Epidemiology, a ll of the Sheba Medical Center.

Mrs. Marguerite Stolz awarded 30 new immigrant students the Lottie and Charles Zucker Scholarship at the annual ceremony, moderated by Prof. Ruth Shalgi, Dean of Students, and attended by Prof. Dan Huppert, Dean for Immigration an d Absorption. The Zucker Scholarship Fund is the only fund for new immigrant students at TAU.

Dr. Shulamith Sela of TAU's Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies gave a lecture on "The History of the Hanukah Story in the Jewish tradition" at the annual ceremony of the Moshe Dorf Fund for the Publication of the TE'UDA Research Series at the School. Addresses were delivered by editor of TE'UDA Prof. Mordechai A. Friedman; Prof. Marcelo Dascal, Dean of the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities; and Col. (res.) Haim Ganel in the name of the fami ly. Mrs. Esther Stone represented the family.

The Yoram Rosenfeld Fund in International Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Advanced Technology, established by his family and friends, was inaugurated at a ceremony moderated by Prof. Niv Ahituv, Director of the Perlman Center fo r Global Business at the Faculty of Management-Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration. Friend of the family Dan Halperin eulogized. The guest lecturer was Dr. Ed Mlavsky, CEO of GEMINI. Winners of the first prize were Dr. Tamar Almor and graduate student Terrie Buniak of the Faculty of Management for their upcoming research in "Small Global Israeli High Tech Firms." The prize was awarded by Dean Prof. Israel Zang.

Prof. Jonathan I. Lunine of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona, Tucson, was guest lecturer of the Distinguished Lectures in Geophysics, Planetary and Space Sciences endowed by Raymond and Beverly Sackler. Prof. Lunine delivere d a lecture entitled "Solar System Exploration and the Search for Life: NASA's 'New' Field of Astrobiology" . The coordinator was Prof. Zev Levin.

The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies and the Abraham Horodisch Chair for the History of Books hosted Prof. Alastair Hamilton of Leiden University who delivered a lecture entitled "Western Attitudes to Islam in the Enlightenment." The response was delivered by Prof. Bernard Lewis, Prof. Emeritus of Princeton University.

Robert Irwin, a research associate in Middle Eastern history at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University, delivered the Kalman Lassner Memorial Lecture of the Moshe Dayan Center entitled "The Oriental Discourses in Or ientalism."

The Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies, TAU's Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities, and the Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences held an international conference entitled "National Identity of New States." The opening session hosted Minister of Finance, Yaacov Neeman; the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Roni Milo; M.K. Shimon Peres; Chairperson of the Public Council, Shlomo Lahat; TAU Rector Prof. Nili Cohen; and Yuval Rabin. Keynote speaker was Prof. Shlomo Avineri of the Hebrew University. A closing symposium, moderated by TAU's Prof. Anita Shapira, Director of the Yitzhak Rabin Center, was entitled "Remembrance and Oblivion: the Rabin Assassination and the Israeli Identity."

The Department of Middle Eastern and African History, Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities, held the first lecture in the series "Israel in Its 50th Year: Leaders and Leadership in the Moslem Middle East" organized by Prof. David Menashri, the Department Chairman. The Entin Faculty of Humanities and the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies held a conference entitled "To the Heart of the Song" and the award ceremony of the Dov Sadan Fund, founded by Zelig Lavon.

TAU hosted the opening session of the Scientists Project of the Israeli Forum and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Prof. John Roth, Distinguished Professor of Biology, University of Utah, delivered a series of lectures entitled "Microbial Genetics in the Modern Era" , sponsored by the Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies, headed by Prof. Saul Abarbanel.

Prof. Martin Weitzman of the Department of Economics, Harvard University, was guest lecturer of the Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies and delivered two lectures entitled " Sustainability and Green Accounting" and "Recombinant Growth."

TAU and the TAU-affiliated Israeli Society of Military History held on campus one of three meetings of research into 50 Years to the War of Independence.

The TAU Israeli Friends held their annual Neta Sofrin Scholarship award ceremony at the School of Health Professions at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine.

TAU's Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Israel Science Foundation held a research workshop on Cyclotron Resonance, Masers and Gyrotrons, organized by Dr. Eli Jerby of the Faculty and Gregory Nusinovich of th e Institute for Plasma Research, University of Maryland.

Dr. Roque Fernandez, Minister of Economy, Argentinian Republic, was guest lecturer of the President Carlos Saul Menem Argentine Distinguished Lectureship. Greetings were offered by Chairman of the Board of Governors Benno Gitter; President Professor Yoram Dinstein; and Ambassador of Argentina to Israel, Dr. Vicente Espeche Gil. TAU's Prof. Jacob Frenkel, Governor of the Bank of Israel, introduced the guest.

Prof. Herbert Stein of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington, US, was guest of the Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies, headed by Prof. Saul Abarbanel. Stein's lecture was entitled "Current Issues About the American Economy."

The Entin Faculty of Humanities and the Diaspora Research Institute held a conference to mark the publication of The Jews in Sicily, vol. 1, 383-1300 by Prof. Shlomo Simonsohn and Biblioteca Italo-Ebraica, Bibliografia per la stor ia degli Ebrei in Italia, 1986-1995 by Manuela M. Consonni and Prof. Shlomo Simonsohn. The conference was chaired by Prof. Aharon Oppenheimer, Head of the Institute. Opening remarks were delivered by Dean Prof. Marcelo Dascal.

The International Forum of the English Speaking Friends and the Department of Political Science hosted Ambassador of Jordan Omar Rifa'i, who lectured on "Israel and Jordan: Prospects for a Growing Relationship." The event was chair ed by Prof. Aharon Klieman.

Research in Reproduction was the the title of a one-day symposium attended by 100 researchers in honor of Prof. Perry F. Kraicer on his 65th birthday, a tribute by his former students who are now in key positions in basic researc h in fertility and in fertility labs and institutes in Israel. Opening remarks were offered by Prof. Boaz Moav, Chairperson of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences' Department of Zoology, and by a former student of Prof. Kraicer, Prof. Alex Tsafrir i of the Weizmann Institute.

"Childhood Heroes" is the title of the lecture series of the renowned novelist Meir Shalev, guest author of TAU's Department of Hebrew Literature, being given under the auspices of the Barecha Fund, within t he framework of Israeli events commemorating 50 years to the State of Israel. Opening remarks at the first lecture were delivered by Prof. Dan Laor, the Department Chairperson, and by Dean of the Entin Faculty of Humanities, Prof. Marcelo Dascal.

The annual meeting of the Israeli Group for Heart Research was held at TAU, organized by Dr. Michael Scheinowitz of the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering's Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Sheba Medical Center Heart I nstitute. Greetings were delivered by Prof. Shainberg, President of the Group, and Prof. Yair Aharonowitz, TAU's Dean of Research.

"50 Years of Arts Research in Israel" was the title of a two-day conference held by the Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of the Arts. Opening remarks were delivered by Dean Prof. Eli Rozik-Rosen.

The School of Education held a conference entitled "History Teaching in Israel in Between Crises and Renewal," organized by Dr. Avner Ben-Amos.

"Tikkun - Aspects in Israeli Art of the 70s" is the new exhibition on show at the Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery. Opening remarks at the opening ceremony were delivered by Dean of the Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of the A rts, Prof. Eli Rozik-Rosen, and Prof. Mordechai Omer, Curator of the Art Gallery.

VISITS

Dr. Julio Maria Sanguinetti, President of Uruguay, gave a guest lecture entitled "The Challenges of Democracy Toward the 21st Century," at the inauguration ceremony of the Uruguay - Julio Maria Sanguinetti Distinguished Lectureshi p. Greetings were given by Benno Gitter, Chairman of the TAU Board of Governors, and Prof. Nili Cohen, TAU Rector.

Ambassador of the US, Edward S. Walker Jr. , made his first visit to TAU accompanied by Peter De Shazo, Counselor for Public Affairs. He met with President Professor Yoram Dinstein and with Chairman of the Board of Governors Benno Gitter, and he visited the Wiener Library.

Prof. Andrei Marga, Romania's Minister of National Education and former Rector of Babes Bolyai University, Cluj, visited on campus. He met with President Professor Yoram Dinstein; visited the Learning Center of the Division of Fore ign Languages; and participated in the International Conference of the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies and TAU on "National Identity of New States," where he delivered a lecture entitled "National Identity and National Minorities in a Post Communi st State: the Case of Romania."

APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS

Prof. Aryeh Levy, Prof. Emeritus of the School of Education, and Prof. Emanuel Marx of the Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences were named this year's recipients of the Israel Prize in S ocial Sciences. The awards will be presented to them on Israel's 50th Independence Day. Prof. Levy was recognized for his work in educational research, particulary in the area of curriculum development and performance evaluation, and Prof. Marx for his a nthropological studies of the weaker segments of the population, including Bedouin, North African and Arab refugees. These are the second and third Israel Prizes awarded to TAU faculty in the jubilee year.

TAU's Prof. Gedeon Dagan of the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering was declared on the UN World Day of Water, March 22, the winner of the 1998 Stockholm Water Prize. The Prize will be awarded t o him by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at a ceremony in the Stockholm City Hall on August 13, 1998.

Prof. Benjamin Isaac of the Entin Faculty of Humanities and member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and the Humanities was appointed Director of Inter-Academic Affairs, replacing Prof. Tuvia Gilat.

Dr. Ron Shapira of the Buchmann Faculty of Law was awarded the Zeltner Prize for Young Researchers by Dean Prof. Eli Lederman, and Prof. Pnina Lahav of Boston University was awarded the Zeltner Prize of the Rotary Club, Israel. Prof. Aharon Barak, President of the Israeil Supreme Court, spoke about Prof. Shimon Agranat, the late Supreme Court President. TAU's Prof. Zeev Segal talked about the late Prof. Zeltner.

Dr. Karen Avraham of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine's Department of Human Genetics is the recipient of the Gad and Nava Schtacher Pharmacology and Genetics Research Fund for 1998. Dr. Avraham delivered a lecture entitled "Genetic Linkage Study of a Gene for Non-Syndromic Progressive Hearing Loss in an Israeli Family."

Prof. Magid Igbaria of TAU's Faculty of Management- Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration was ranked the most productive researcher in Management Information Systems by the journal Decision Line in an article entitled "An Assessment of Individual and Institutional Research Productivity in MIS."

Prof. Baruch Sneh of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences' Department of Plant Sciences and the Institute for Nature Conservation Research was elected a Fellow of the American Phytoathological Society.

ABROAD

A 10-day study cruise, "Jewish Roots in the New World," from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Acapulco, Mexico was held on the Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Sea, led by President Professor Yoram Dinstein and Vice President Yehiel Ben-Zvi. Four TAU faculty membe rs - Prof. Avner Ziv, Dr. Robert Rockaway, Yoram Boker, and Prof. Moshe Lazar - delivered lectures, and the participants visited with the Jewish communities and their leaders in San Juan, Curaçao and Costa Rica. The Study Cruise was organized b y the American Friends of TAU.

EULOGIES

TAU mourns the passing of Mrs. Sylvia Kugel, a generous supporter from LA, who was originally from Holland.