February 1st, 1999

IN ISRAEL

TAU held the second university-wide Open House for prospective students under the slogan "Everything Open." Faculties offered lectures, presentations and information. The Registrar's Office offered information and consultation. Some 10,000 applicants attended.

The Council for Higher Education approved the new BSc in Computer Sciences of the Department of Computer Sciences at the Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences.

TAU signed a cooperation agreements with: Beijing Normal University, China; Waseda University, Japan; Wirtschaftsuniversitat Wien, Austria; University of Milano, Italy; Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany; University of Dresden, Germany; University of Kyung Hee, Korea; Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Norway; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong; and Universidad de San Andres, Argentina.

The TAU Dean of Students Office and the Unit for Young Scientists are taking part in the program "Science Flowers" of the Ministry of Science. The program promotes awareness of science by junior high school students in two underprivileged communities and two schools in Tel Aviv, one of which was adopted by the University.

CONFERENCES

TAU Rector Prof. Nili Cohen awarded certificates to outstanding students on the Rector's list. The keynote lecture was delivered by Dr. Meir Shahar of the Department of East Asian Studies.

The School of Mathematical Sciences at the Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences is holding a special series for students, entitled "Can the Computer Crack the Secret of Life?" The series was initiated by Prof. Micha Sharir, Head of the School, and coordinated by Prof. Zeev Schuss of the Department of Applied Mathematics. Prof. Bernard Lewis, Professor Emeritus of Princeton University, was a guest of the Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies. He delivered two lectures, "Time, Space and Modernization in the Middle East" and "Iran in History."

Dr. Orna Beri, Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, was invited by the Department of Computer Sciences, Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, to advise students on the technical positions available in Israeli industry for master's and PhD graduates.

The certificate-awarding ceremony of the 29th Course of the International Postgraduate Training Program in Medicine, of the School of Continuing Medical Education at TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the International Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was recently held. Greetings were delivered by: Dean Prof. Menahem Fainaru; Vice Dean Prof. Arjeh Wysenbeek; and Dr. Ron Maymon, Program Coordinator. Dr. Festus Ilako from Kenya spoke on behalf of the training physicians.

German Ambassador Theodor Wallau was guest speaker of the International Forum sponsored by the Department of Political Science, the Israeli English Speaking Friends of TAU, and the Nahum Goldmann Chair in Diplomacy. Ambassador Wallau delivered a lecture on "Israel and Germany: Prospective Relations." The event was chaired by Prof. Aharon Klieman.

The Haimovich Chair for Business Policy and the Max Perlman Center for Global Studies held the first conference of the Strategic Management Society in Israel, entitled "Global Strategies of Small Israeli Companies," organized by Prof. Eli Segev, incumbent of the Haimovich Chair. Prof. Howard Thomas, President of the Strategic Management Society and Dean of the College of Commerce and Business Administration at the University of Illinois, described the Society's activities.

"Technology, Education and Productivity Toward the Year 2000" was the title of a conference organized by the Pinhas Sapir Economic Policy Forum founded by Samuel Rothberg. A seminar entitled "Government Initiation and Growth in the Pinhas Sapir Era and Today," moderated by Prof. Elhanan Helpman of the Eitan Berglas School of Economics and dedicated to the memory of Pinhas Sapir, was also held within the framework of the Economic Policy Forum. Guests included Dr. Orna Beri, Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Dan Meridor, MK, former chairman of the Knesset Committee on Israel's Defense Doctrine, was the guest speaker of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' conference in memory of General David ("Dado") Elazar. Opening remarks were delivered by Prof. Shai Feldman, Director of the Jaffee Center, and Isca Shadmi. General (res) Avigdor Ben-Gal spoke in memory of Elazar. "Revolution and the Making of Modern Political Identity" was the title of a four-day conference held by the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities, the School of History, and the Cummings Center for Russian and East European Studies. The concluding address was given by Prof. Gareth Stedman Jones of Cambridge University, chaired by Prof. Gabriel Gorodetsky of the Cummings Center.

"New Horizons in Endocrinology: From Bench to Bedside" was the title of the second annual scientific conference of the Felsenstein Medical Research Center (FMRC) of the TAU Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Kupat Holim, chaired by Prof. Uri Liberman, incumbent of TAU's Irene and Nicholas Marsh Chair in Endocrinology and Juvenile Diabetes. Greetings were given by Prof. Yossi Mekori, Director of the FMRC, and Faculty Dean Prof. Menahem Fainaru.

"Who Has the Authority to Make Decisions on Medical Ethics Questions?" was the title of a conference of the Cymbalista Jewish Heritage Center, chaired by Rector Prof. Nili Cohen.

Prof. Bernard Lewis of Princeton University delivered the opening lecture of a series on "Interrelations between Judaism and Other Cultures" held by the Cymbalista Jewish Heritage Center, and chaired by Prof. Itamar Rabinovich. Prof. Lewis spoke on "Religion and Politics in Islam and Judaism."

A series of meetings with scholars, philosophers, psychologists and rabbis discussing topical issues through Parashat Ha'Shavua is being held at the Cymbalista Jewish Heritage Center. Lecturing were TAU's Prof. Yaira Amit on "Moses - The Man and the Leader"; Prof. Nathan Aviezer of Bar-Ilan University on "Miracles in the Bible"; TAU's Prof. Hagai Netzer; Erez Eshel, former Chairman of the TAU Students Union, on "A Bewildered Generation - Then and Now"; and TAU's Prof. Yair Hoffman on "The Idea of the Chosen People - The Beginning of Jewish Racism?" The meetings were moderated by TAU's Prof. Tsevi Mazeh.

TAU hosted the 1999 annual conference of the Israeli Society for Medical and Biological Engineering, chaired by Prof. Shmuel Einav, President of the Society, and organized by Prof. David Elad, Society Treasurer, both of the TAU Fleischman Faculty of Engineering. Greetings were delivered by Vice Dean Prof. Tuvia Miloh.

The Amnon Ben-Nathan Chair of Economics and the Sapir Center for Development held the annual conference in memory of Amnon Ben-Nathan on the subject of "Social and Economic Aspects of Higher Education in Israel," and a scholarship-awarding ceremony, moderated by Prof. Efraim Sadka.

The David Horowitz Institute for Social and Economic Research of the Gordon Faculty of Social Studies held a conference entitled "Changes in Higher Education in Israel," chaired by Prof. Yossi Shavit, Head of the Institute. Greetings were delivered by Dean Prof. Moshe Semyonov.

Prof. Frances Ferguson of John Hopkins University was guest lecturer of the Department of English and the Cohen-Porter Fund. Prof. Ferguson spoke on "Envy Rising: The Body and Emotion."

The Peres Institute for Diplomacy and Regional Cooperation held a seminar entitled "Promoting Reconciliation: Lessons from the South African Experience." The speaker was former President of the Republic of South Africa and Nobel Prize laureate Frederik Willem de Klerk. Opening remarks were given by Rector Prof. Nili Cohen and Prof. Arie Nadler, Head of the Peres Institute. Respondents were Prof. Manuel Hassassian, Executive Vice President of Bethlehem University and TAU's Prof. Shimon Shamir, former Ambassador of Israel to Egypt and Jordan. Moderator of the event was Prof. Aharon Kleiman, Deputy Head of the Peres Institute.

TAU hosted the Wolf Foundation annual doctoral scholarship-awarding ceremony in memory of Dr. Moshe Gilboa, former Chairman of the Foundation. Greetings were delivered by Vice Rector Prof. Shimon Yankielowicz. TAU's Prof. Abraham Ben Reuven, a member of the Foundation's council, spoke on behalf of the Wolf Foundation.

"1999: Rethinking the Left" was an inter-university conference of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Guest speaker at the opening session was Michel Rocard, former Prime Minister of France. The conference was chaired by TAU's Prof. Anita Shapira.

The Department of Musicology at the Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of the Arts held a conference in memory of Habib Thoma, Arab composer and Arabic music scholar. He was a graduate of the TAU Samuel Rubin Israeli Academy of Music and taught there for the last two years.

Dr. Alieto Guadagni, the Secretary of Commerce and Industry of Argentina, delivered the Carlos Menem Distinguished Lecture this year, entitled "Argentine and Mercosur toward the Third Millennium. TAU's Prof. Haim Ben Shahar of the Eitan Berglas School of Economics introduced the speaker. Greetings were delivered by Benno Gitter, Chairman of the TAU Board of Governors; Dr. Vincente Espeche Gil, Ambassador of Argentina to Israel; and Herzl Inbar, Deputy Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Latin America.

TAU hosted the founding conference of the Academic Community of Israel, a non-political organization aimed at promoting the future Israeli society as an open one, with advanced educational systems and with a scientific and technological infrastructure that will be a focus of identity for world Jewry. Pro-Rector Dan Amir is among the founders.

"Homage to David Perlov: Artist of Film Documentary" was the title of a conference held by the Department of Film and Television and organized by Dr. Nitzan Ben-Shaul. Greetings were delivered by Dean Prof. Eli Rozik-Rosen and by the Chairperson of the Department Prof. Emil Knebel. Student Keren Yehezkieli was awarded a Documentary Script Award by the New Fund for Film and Television at the Conference, which was held on the occasion of Prof. Perlov's retirement. Prof. Perlov was later in the week selected as a 1999 Israel Prize winner.

Prof. David Weiss Halivni of the Department of Religion, Columbia University, was a guest lecturer of the Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies, headed by Prof. Saul Abarbanel. Prof. Halivni, who was awarded a TAU honorary doctorate in 1998, delivered a lecture entitled "Nameless Talmud Pieces - Why Are They Nameless?"

Prof. Isi Foighel, former judge of the European Court of Human Rights and Chairman of the Danish Friends of TAU, was the keynote speaker at the first Raoul Wallenberg Symposium. He lectured on "Freedom of Speech and Restraining Anti-Semitism - A Contradiction?" Dr. Dina Porat, Head of TAU's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism, spoke on "The Human Rights Declaration - 50 Years After." The Raoul Wallenberg Prizes were awarded to Miriam Bergman (for 1998) and Frumina Shchori (for 1999), both of the Department of Jewish History.

The Buchmann Faculty of Law held the inauguration ceremony of the Dr. Jur. Wolf and Elga Cegla Wing and the Elga Cegla Hall of the Faculty Council, in the presence of Dr. Wolf Cegla. Dean Prof. Eli Lederman and former Director of the Cegla Institute for Comparative Law, Prof. Amos Shapira, spoke on behalf of the Faculty, and Michael Biron Cegla spoke on behalf of the family. Dr. Irit Habib Segal, acting Director of the Cegla Institute, awarded the Elga Cegla Scholarship Award to PhD students Yoram Rabin and Gershon Gontovnik.

"Strategy and Operations" was the title of the first meeting of Recanati Alumni, the Association of Faculty of Management Graduates. Prof. Eitan Zemel of the Stern School of Business, New York University, delivered the keynote lecture, entitled "Strategy and Operations: Did the Japanese Management System Fail?"

APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS

Prof. Abraham Tal of the of the Department of the Hebrew Language was elected the incumbent of the Jacob and Shoshana Schreiber Chair in the History of Hebrew Literature, replacing Prof. Aron Dotan who retired .

Prof. Yaacov Ro'i of the Department of General History was elected the incumbent of the Zvi and Sara Berger Chair in the Research of the History of Russian Jews.

Prof. Babeth Rabinowitz of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, was elected the incumbent of the newly-founded David Halperne Chair in Cellular and Molecular Cardiology.

Prof. Yoram Shapira of the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering was elected the incumbent of the newly-founded Henry and Dinah Krongold Chair in Microelectronics.

Prof. Yehezkel Yeshurun, Head of the Laboratory of Computer Vision at the TAU School of Mathematics, was appointed Chairman of the National Committee for Computer Data and Communication by Minister of Science Silvan Shalom. The National Committee reports to the Government Ministers Committee for Science and Technology.

David Perlov, Professor Emeritus of the TAU Department of Film and Television, and Prof. Menachem Banitt of the Department of French Language and Literature will be awarded the 1999 Israel Prize on Independence Day.

Prof. Zvi Laron, Professor Emeritus of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, was awarded an honorary membership of the Slovenia Pediatric Society and the centennial medal of the Italian Society of Pediatrics.

VISITS

Prof. David C. Chang, President of Polytechnic University, New York, visited TAU. He met with Yehiel Ben-Zvi, Vice President; Prof. Gideon Langholz, Dean of the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering; and Prof. Emanuel Marom, former Dean of Research and Development and a graduate of the Polytechnic University.

Minister of Science Silvan Shalom visited the Inter-University Computation Center located at TAU. Four projects at the Center were presented to the Minister: the Unit for Parallel Computation and the Future Origin 2000 Computer; the Internet 2 Infrastructure; the Center for Digital Information Data Bank, which will replace the library information banks; and the Data and Information System for the Earth and Observing System of NASA.

American directors of study abroad visited TAU. They were introduced to the Lowy School for Overseas Students by Prof. Zehava Solomon, Academic Chairperson. Prof. Itamar Rabinovich talked about the future of the Lowy School. The guests toured the campus and the dormitories with Yoram E. Shamir, Director of Public Affairs.

The UNCF College Presidents' Mission, sponsored by the American-Israel Friendship League, met with TAU President Prof. Yoram Dinstein; Prof. Mordechai Sokolov, Head of the Interdisciplinary Center for Technological Analysis and Forecasting; Prof. Shai Feldman, Director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies; and Prof. Benjamin Isaac, Director of Inter-Academic Affairs. The Mission was hosted by Yoram E. Shamir, Director of Public Affairs.

ABROAD

The 8th TAU European Regional Conference was held in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The opening session started with an introduction by Vice President Yehiel Ben-Zvi and a lecture by TAU President Prof. Yoram Dinstein on the state of the University, followed by a general debate. Lectures were given by Prof. Israel Finkelstein, Head of the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Co-Director of the Megiddo Expedition, on the excavations at Megiddo; by Prof. Jonathan M. Gershoni of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences on cell biology and the solution to cancer and AIDS; by Prof. Michael Keren of the Department of Political Science and Director of the Institute for Study of Jewish Press and Communications on "Israel's Changing Politics"; and Yoram Boker of the Department of Theater Arts who gave a pantomime and mask demonstration.

Social events included an Opening Gala Dinner hosted by Dr. h.c. Karl-Heinz and Mrs. Hannelore Kipp; Kabbalat Shabbat Dinner hosted by the Swiss Friends of TAU; Lunch sponsored by WestLB International S.A. Luxembourg; Open House hosted by Mr. Norbert and Mrs. Paulette Cymbalista; and a farewell dinner sponsored by Dr. Wilfried and Mrs. Ursula Bechtolsheimer.

Stephen Lecker was appointed Executive Director of the American Friends of TAU (AFTAU).

COMING EVENTS

The 1999 TAU Board of Governors Meeting will take place on May 25, 1999-June 4, 1999.

The Friends of Tel Aviv University Study Cruise on the Aegean Sea will take place on June 7-16, 1999.
Registration: Alexandra Talbot, AFTAU, 212-687-5651; 800-989-1198;
Fax: 212-687-4085