July 30th, 1998

IN ISRAEL

CONFERENCES

The TAU's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies held its annual ceremony for the Lt. Col. Meir and Rachel Tshetshik Prize for Strategic Studies on Israel's Security. Opening remarks were delivered by Prof. Shai Feldman, Director of the Jaffee Center. The guest lecture was delivered by Maj. Gen. (res.) Matan Vilna'i and was entitled "Israel's Defense - The IDF toward the Year 2000." The prize winner, Maj. Gen. Yom Tov Samia, Head of the Southern Command, won for his research on "The Organizational Climate of the IDF's Field Units."

TAU's Mendel Kaplan Chair in the History of Egypt and Israel held a conference on the 50th anniversary of the War of Independence entitled "Egypt and the 1948 War - A New Consideration." The event was organized by Prof. Shimon Shamir, the Chair's incumbent.

TAU hosted an international conference entitled "Management Science and Operations Research in an Emerging Region," sponsored by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), in cooperation with TAU and the Operations Research Society of Israel (ORSIS). Prof. Jacob Hornik of TAU's Faculty of Management-Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration and Prof. Benjamin Lev of the University of Michigan, Dearborn, co-chaired the event.

The conference, "Innovations in Energy - Business Opportunities for Industry and the Building Sector," was the first held by the new Israeli chapter of OPET (Organization for the Promotion of Energy Technology) of the European Union. The Chapter was established by TAU's Interdisciplinary Center for Technological Analysis and Forecasting (ICTAF), in cooperation with the Israeli Liaison Office for the European Union's R&D (ISERD); the S. Neeman Institute for Advanced Study in Science and Technology at the Technion, Haifa; and the Manufacturers Association of Israel. OPET Israel is managed by Dr. Yair Sharan, Deputy Director of ICTAF. The Chapter's steering committee is headed by Prof. Moti Sokolov, Director of ICTAF.

Prof. Gerald Cohen, Head of the Joan and Jaime Constantiner Institute for Molecular Genetics, and Prof. Yair Aharonowitz, Dean of Research, were co-chairman of the organizing committee of the 8th International Symposium on the Genetics of Industrial Microorganisms, held in Jerusalem.

The Azrieli School of Architecture held its annual exhibition of student projects. Prof. Avraham Yaski, the Head of the School, delivered greetings at the opening ceremony.

Dr. Saeb Arakat, Minister for Interior Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, was guest of the joint Summer Program of TAU's Buchmann Faculty of Law and Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, USA. His lecture was entitled, "Whither the Peace Process?."

Intel awarded scholarships to 13 PhD students of TAU's Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences. Greetings at the award ceremony were delivered by TAU Vice Rector Prof. Shimon Yankielowicz. Mr. Yossi Levy presented a general overview of the Intel Development Center in Israel - history, activities and academic relations.

The TAU Israeli Friends Association Business Forum visited the excavations at Megiddo, hosted by Professors Israel Finkelstein and David Ussishkin of TAU's Department of Archaeology.

Dr. James Hugg of the University of Alabama, Birmingham, USA, delivered a lecture at a Molecular Biophysics Seminar of the School of Chemistry, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, entitled "Human Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy at High Magnetic Fields in Functional MRI, Epilepsy and Stroke."

APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS

Prof. Noam Sheriff was elected Head of TAU's Samuel Rubin Israeli Academy of Music, replacing Prof. Ami Maayani who has concluded his term of office.

Dover Kosashvili, a graduate of TAU's Department of Film and Television, Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of Arts, won the Wolgin Prize at the Jerusalem Film Festival for his graduation film, With Rules, in the category of "Best Short Film," as well as the Lipper Foundation Award for Best Screenplay, together with Amos Gitai who also won First Prize at the Festival. With Rules also won the jury award and an honorable mention at the International Student Film Festival in Munich.

VISITS

A delegation from Romania, headed by Serben Stati, Director-General of the Department of Cultural Affairs, MFA, visited on campus within the framework of the Center for Jewish Studies which was recently established at the University of Bucharest. They were welcomed by Vice Rector Prof. Shimon Yankielowicz and met with Prof. Marcelo Dascal, Dean of the Entin Faculty of Humanities.

ABROAD

One-hundred and fifty Board Members and friends participated in the 4th TAU Riviera Meeting which was held in Monaco under the patronage of Prince Rainier. A colloquium was held entitled, "Israel and the European Union as We Approach the Year 2000," moderated by TAU President Prof. Yoram Dinstein. Participants included Jean Claude Trichet, Governor of the Banque de France, and Prof. Jacob A. Frenkel, Governor of the Bank of Israel.

Cultural events included a tour of Prince Rainier's Car Museum and a musical interlude featuring classical, modern and post-modern facets of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," performed by Dr. Astrith Baltsan.

Social events included cocktail reception hosted by Mr. Michel Lévêque, State Minister of the Principality of Monaco, at the Ministry, with an address by Mr. Benno Gitter, Chairman of the TAU Board of Governors; Friday night dinner at the Hotel Metropole, hosted by the French Friends of TAU, with addresses by Mr. Gitter and Mr. Hugo Ramniceanu, President of the French Friends; a gala dinner at the Hotel de Paris hosted by Mr. Marian Gertner and Dr. (hon.) Hella Gertner, President of the Austrian Friends of TAU; a luncheon at the Yacht Club hosted by Raya Yaglom, President of the Israeli Friends; and a farewell dinner hosted by Mr. Urs Felber and Mrs. Aviva Felber, President of the TAU Friends in Monaco. Among the participants were TAU's Chancellor Sir Leslie Porter and Dame Shirley Porter; Chairman of the Executive Council Mr. Moshe Porath; and Vice President Yehiel Ben Zvi.

COMING EVENTS

The Fourth Annual TAU North American Conference hosted by TAU's American and Canadian Friends will take place in New York on October 8-11, 1998.