April 1ST, 1999

IN ISRAEL

TAU administrative staff held a partial strike. Negotiations will be resumed after the Passover vacation.

The TAU Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research conducted, for the first time, their monthly peace poll together with the Palestinian Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, supported by the People-to-People Program run by Prof. Ephraim Yaar and Dr. Tamar Herman of the Steinmetz Center and Ghassan Al Khatib of the Palestinian Center.

The TAU Israeli Friends Association held a gala premiere of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at the Habima National Theater in the presence of TAU President Prof. Yoram Dinstein, in benefit of student scholarships at TAU.

CONFERENCES

SHILUVIM, the Alumni Business Club of the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering held a joint meeting with the MIT Enterprise Forum of Israel, entitled "Angel Investments — Raising Funds from Private Sources." Opening remarks were delivered by TAU's Prof. Shmuel Einav and Chairman of Shiluvim Moshe Horev, Director-General of Oracle Israel. Ori Hadomi, Chief Financial Officer of DenX Advanced Dental Systems presented the company that developed the Image Guided Surgery instruction instrument for minimal invasive surgery for dental schools in cooperation with the TAU Faculty of Engineering and the Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine.

Thomas Donilon, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and the Secretary's chief of staff, gave the second annual Dr. Joshua Rotenstreich Memorial Lecture. He spoke on "Major Trends in US Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy — the View from Washington."

The Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies and TAU held an international conference in commemoration of the 77th birthday of Yitzhak Rabin, entitled "Wars, Revolutions and Generational Identity." The keynote lecture at the opening session was delivered by TAU's Prof. Anita Shapira, Chairperson of the Center, who spoke on "From the Palmah Generation to the 'Rabin Children' — Changes in Israeli Identity." Greetings at the session, chaired by Prof. Itamar Rabinovich, were given by Ron Huldai, Mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa; Prof. Shimon Yankielowicz, TAU Vice Rector; and Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, Chairperson of the Center's Executive Committee.

The annual conference in memory of Simon Syrkin, organized by the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies (JCSS) and chaired by Deputy Head of the Center Dr. Ephraim Kam, was entitled "Economics and Defense." Speakers included Imry Tov, financial adviser to the defense establishment and Jacob Lifshitz, Chairman of the Council of Directors of the military industry. The Syrkin Conference was supported by Paul and Anny Yanowicz.

The TAU School of Physics and Astronomy at the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences hosted the 45th annual meeting of the Israel Physical Society and the Second Conference of the Israel Plasma Science and Technology Association, supported by the TAU President's Office and the Gretl Raymond Extraordinary Chair for International Exchanges in Science. Greetings at the opening session were delivered by Rector Prof. Nili Cohen and the Society President, Prof. Shlomo Havlin of Bar-Ilan University, and the meeting was moderated by TAU's Prof. Reuven Chen, Chairman of the Organizing Committee. Plenary lectures were delivered by Prof. Nathan Seiberg of the Princeton Institute of Advanced Studies, a graduate of TAU's School of Physics and Astronomy, who spoke on "String Theory: A Progress Report" and Prof. Peter Goldreich of Caltech who discussed "Extrasolar Planets."

The Bernice Schaffer Bessin Poetry Prize was awarded to Israel Levin, first year student of the Department of English, in a ceremony held at TAU. Opening remarks were given by Dr. Karen Alkalay-Gut of the Department, who read a poem written by her especially for the ceremony. Mrs. Bernice Schaffer Bessin responded on behalf of the family, her daughter Barbara and son-in-law Benjamin Zucker. The ceremony was moderated by Dean of Students Prof. Ruth Shalgi.

Thirty scholarships for new immigrant students were awarded by the Lottie and Charles Zucker Scholarship Fund at a ceremony moderated by Dean of Students Prof. Ruth Shalgi. An address was delivered by Prof. Dan Huppert, Dean of Immigrant Absorption. Mr. Benjamin Zucker responded on behalf of the family and Leonid Arcadi on behalf of the students.

The annual award ceremony of the Hendrik and Irene Gutwirth Research Prize in Diabetes Mellitus was held at TAU, chaired by former Dean of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine Prof. Elieser Kaplinsky. Prof. Jacques Bernheim, Head of the Research Committee at the Faculty of Medicine, awarded the Prize to Dr. Carlos Benbassat, Dr. Avishai Elis and Dr. Avraham Geier. Mrs. Vivien Zimmet responded on behalf of the family.

The annual ceremony of the Moshe Dorf Fund for the Publication of TE'UDA, a research series at the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies, was held at TAU. The opening address was delivered by Prof. Yair Hoffman, Head of the School. Prof. Mordechai A. Friedman, editor of TE'UDA delivered a lecture entitled "Abraham Ben Yiju — A Jewish Trader in India."

The first lecture of the 1999 Aharon Katzir Memorial Series, "In the Smelter of Revolution," was delivered by Uzia Galil, President of ELRON. Opening remarks were delivered by TAU's Prof. Ephraim Katzir, fourth President of the State of Israel.

TAU's School of Education and the Israel Teachers Union held a conference entitled "Poverty, Welfare and Education," moderated by Prof. Yitzhak Kashti of the School.

"In Between Borrowing and Owning — On Translators and Translations" was the title of the annual Dov Sadan Conference at the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies. Six scholarships of the Fund for Research in Literature and the Hebrew and Yiddish Languages and one scholarship of the Gusta Sadan-Parnass Prize for Research in Culture, Language, Literature and Thought of Near Eastern Jewry were awarded to graduate students at the Conference, which was chaired by Prof. Nurit Govrin of TAU's Department of Hebrew Literature, chairperson of the Fund's Public Committee.

A conference, "The Security Dilemma: An Interdisciplinary View," marking the publication of the book Security Concerns: Insights from the Israeli Experience, was held by the Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences. The editors of the book, TAU Professors Daniel Bar-Tal, Aharon Klieman and Dan Jacobson, presented their research findings at panel discussions. The keynote lecture was delivered by Gen. (res.) Uri Sagi. The closing session entitled "The Israeli Society from the Defense Point of View" hosted Deputy Minister Michael Eitan; Gen. (res.) Shlomo Lahat, former Mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa; and MK Dan Meridor, and was chaired by Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Moshe Semyonov.

Thirty-one outstanding first-year students who served in combat units during their IDF military service were awarded scholarships by TAU for the first time in a ceremony moderated by Dean of Students Prof. Ruth Shalgi. Greetings were delivered by Vice Rector Prof. Shimon Yankielowicz, and a lecture was delivered by Dr. Eyal Zisser of the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies entitled "Syria and Lebanon: Will the Evil Come from the North?"

A concert by the winners of the Argentinean National Piano and Singing Contest, honoring the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel, was held at TAU's Clairmont Hall by TAU's Samuel Rubin Israeli Academy of Music; the Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Argentina; and the Israel-Argentina Friendship Association. The performers were Roxana Deviggiano, who won first prize for singing, and Juan Federico Jusid, first prize for piano.

The Pinhas Sapir Center for Development held a conference entitled "State Support for the Ultra Orthodox Population — From a Welfare State to a Support State." The keynote lecture was delivered by Prof. Eli Berman of Boston University, followed by public panel chaired by Head of the Center, Prof. Dani Tsiddon.

A conference entitled "A Counter-Terrorism Strategy for the 21st Century: The Role of Technology" was held at TAU, co-sponsored by Prof. Dr. Raphael Taubenschlag Institute of Criminal Law, the Buchmann Faculty of Law; the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies; the Center for Special Studies (CSS); the Terrorism Studies Program, George Washington University; and the Center for Counter-Terrorism, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Virginia. Co-chairmen were TAU's Prof. Emeritus Yuval Ne'eman and Dr. Asher Maoz, Head of the Taubenschlag Institute; and Prof. Yona Alexander of George Washington University.

The Israeli Association for the History of Religions held its annual conference at TAU, in cooperation with Bar-Ilan University; the Hebrew University; and TAU's Department of Jewish Philosophy and Program in Religion Studies. The Conference was organized by Dr. Michael Mach, Chairperson of the TAU Department of Jewish Philosophy, and opening remarks were delivered by Prof. Shlomo Biderman of TAU.

The first Bioinformatics Symposium was held at TAU, organized by Dr. Karen Avraham of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. An introduction was presented by Prof. Yair Aharonowitz, TAU Dean of Research. The conference was sponsored by Compugen.

The Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies held an international conference entitled "The Future of Military Doctrine," organized by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University; the Inforwar.com Group; the Security Studies Program, MIT; and the National Defense University, in cooperation with the IDF and the US Army. Guest lectures at the opening ceremony, moderated by Prof. Itamar Rabinovich, were given by Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, Chief of Staff of the IDF, who lectured on "IDF 2000" and Maj. Gen. Robert H. Scales Jr., Commandant, US Army War College, who discussed "The Army beyond 2010." Greetings were given by Gen. Terry Scott, JFK School of Government, Harvard University; Prof. Barry Posen, Security Studies Program, MIT; and Dr. W. Seth Carus, National Defense University.

The Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of the Arts opened an exhibition of the dress and stage designs of the late Prof. Lidia Pinkus-Gany and of students of the Department of Theater Arts, under the auspices of Silicon Graphics Computer Systems. The exhibition is on show in the lobby of the Habima National Theater. Addresses at the opening ceremony were given by Faculty Dean Prof. Eli Rozik-Rosen; Chairperson of the Theater Department Prof. Tom Lewy; Prof. Yosef Yzraeli who spoke in memory of Prof. Pinkus-Gany, and Habima director Jacob Agmon.

The certificate-awarding ceremony of Course No. 30 of the International Postgraduate Training Program in Medicine at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the International Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MASHAV) was recently held. Greetings were delivered by Dean of Medicine Prof. Menahem Fainaru, and by Dr. Viviane Zetola of Brazil on behalf of the training physicians.

Prof. Steve Berry of the Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, was guest lecturer of the Joshua Jortner Distinguished Lectures in Chemistry of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation, coordinated by Prof. Abraham Nitzan.

Michael Jackson of AT&T Labs was guest lecturer of the series entitled "Programming Languages and Systems" of the Department of Computer Science at the School of Mathematical Sciences. His lecture was entitled "Problem Analysis and Structure."

The TAU Department of Theater Arts, Katz Faculty of Arts, held a conference entitled "Women in the Israeli Theater," in cooperation with the Hebrew University. Greetings at the opening session were delivered by Rector Prof. Nili Cohen and Faculty Dean Prof. Eli Rozik-Rosen.

APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS

The TAU Student Union Council elected Lior Tanner Chairman of the Student Union; Noam Wiener, President; and Amnon Liebermann and Nir Andelmann, Vice Presidents.

Professor Emeritus Rebecca Bergman of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine, founder and former chairperson of TAU's Department of Nursing, received the Israel Prize for 1999 for her "contribution to society and the country." The award will be presented at a ceremony to be held on Independence Day.

Prof. Micha Sharir, Head of the School of Mathematical Sciences, is the recipient of the Feher Prize in Computer Science for 1999.

Dr. Omri Yadlin of the Buchmann Faculty of Law and the Eitan Berglas School of Economics is the recipient of the Zeltner Prize of the Rotary Club for Research in Law and Social Sciences. Dean of the Faculty Prof. Eli Lederman presented the Prize to Dr. Yadlin.

VISITS

A delegation from Temple University, Pennsylvania, visited TAU. They met with Vice Rector Prof. Shimon Yankielowicz and Prof. Touvia Miloh, Vice Dean of Engineering. They also visited the Katz Faculty of the Arts and lunched with Prof. Israel Zang, Dean of the Faculty of Management.

Prof. Sergueev Alexei Georgievich, Rector of Vladimir State University, Russia, and Prof. Efros Viktor Valentinovich visited TAU. Their visit included stops at the Wolfson Center for Applied Materials Research and the Department of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer of the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering.

Prof. Carol Stanciu, Rector of Gr. T. Popa University of Medicine, Iasi, Romania, toured TAU. He visited the Gitter-Smolarz Library of Life Sciences and Medicine and was hosted to lunch by Dean of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Menahem Fainaru.

A delegation of the China Beijing TV Station, chaired by Xu Yue, director of the Education and Program Department, visited TAU's Department of Biomedical Engineering, and were hosted by Prof. Shimon Aboud.

ABROAD

The TAU British Trust held a colloquium in London entitled "Water... The Fundamental Issue for Peace in the Middle East." Opening remarks were given by Mrs. Manja Leigh, TAU Governor. Lectures were delivered by Prof. Zvi Eckstein of the TAU Berglas School of Economics and Dr. Munther Haddadin on "Water and Peace in the Middle East," following an introduction by Gideon Siternman, economics affairs attaché at the Embassy of Israel. Closing remarks were delivered by Paul Norman, Chairman of the Trust.

The General Meeting of the Austrian Friends took place in the Audience Hall of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Transport in Vienna. Following the meeting a lecture entitled "Austria and Israel in the Field of Science and Technology" was delivered by Dr. Raoul Kneukcer, Section Head of the Ministry.

A benefit event dedicated to the Peres Institute for Diplomacy and Regional Cooperation at TAU was held in the Mozart Hall of Frankfurt's Old Opera, organized by the TAU German Friends, featuring Wolf Biermann, renowned poet, translator and author.

OBITUARIES

TAU mourns the passing of Zelman Weinberg, TAU Honorary Doctor and a member of the TAU Board of Governors, donor of the Zelman and Sima Weinberg Chair in Political Sociology and the Zelman Weinberg Chair in Cell Biology.

COMING EVENTS