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Prof. Ariel Porat is incoming Tel Aviv University President

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The TAU Board of Governors ratified the presidency of Porat, a TAU alumnus, law professor and EMET Prize laureate

Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Ariel Porat served as an officer in the “8200” IDF Intelligence Corps unit for 5 years. He subsequently enrolled in law studies at Tel Aviv University’s Buchmann Faculty of Law, where he earned his LLB and direct JSD before performing post-doctoral studies at Yale Law School. His main research areas are torts, contracts, remedies, and law and economics.

He joined Tel Aviv University as a faculty member in 1990. From 2002 to 2006, he served as Dean of the Buchmann Faculty of Law, where he introduced a number of joint LLM programs and student exchange programs with leading schools abroad, and from 2013 to 2014 he chaired the University Strategic Steering Committee tasked with the academic restructuring of the University.

Driven by a deep sense of social responsibility, Porat conceived and launched a pioneering admittance program at TAU for students from Israel’s geographic and social periphery, and was additionally involved in other initiatives intended to widen the circle of educational opportunity for underrepresented groups in Israel.

Porat is Alain Poher Professor of Law at TAU and Associate Member and Fischel-Neil Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Chicago. He was also a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Columbia University, New York University, Stanford University, University of Toronto and the University of Virginia. He is a member of the American Law Institute, a former board member of the American Law and Economics Association and a former president of the Israeli Law and Economics Association. From 1997 to 2002, he was the Director of TAU’s Cegla Center for Interdisciplinary Research of the Law. He is the founder of the journal Theoretical Inquiries in Law and was its editor-in-chief in the years 1999-2003.

Porat is the author of four books and more than 90 articles published by the world’s leading academic presses and scholarly journals.

Photo: Yehonatan Zur

President’s Farewell Message – 2009 to 2019

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Prof. Joseph Klafter sums up a rewarding tenure of championing creativity and entrepreneurship in every field

Like many organizations, Tel Aviv University must reinvent itself every now and then to ensure its continuing relevance and leadership role in an ever-changing, competitive global arena. This requires creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit.

My mission as university president for the last 10 years was to champion creativity and entrepreneurship in every field, sow fertile ground for them to grow, and nurture “academic chutzpah.” All along the way I sought to closely involve faculty, students, staff, alumni and supporters. I kept an open door. I learned to embrace what seemed impossible dreams. I gave people in the TAU community “permission to fail” and resolute backing on their path to success. Mostly, I endeavored to humanize this large university – this City of Big Ideas – sprawled on a Ramat Aviv hillside. When people meet people, sparks ignite.

Among the highlights of my tenure, I would like to share a number of trends that defined the growth and evolution of the University:

 

Removing Barriers: Interdisciplinary Culture

TAU has always been the Israeli pioneer for novel interdisciplinary research and study programs. Building on this foundation, TAU added some 50 major research centers, institutes and study frameworks, mostly in partnership with visionary donors, in areas ranging from neuroscience to ethics, evolutionary history to cyber security, and sports performance to smart cities – to name a few. Likewise, a vigorous faculty recruitment drive emphasized rising stars who could bring interdisciplinary know-how to TAU and Israel. Since 2010, TAU absorbed 420 talented new faculty members at an overall cost of $88 million.

 

Taking Flight: Globalization

Just as academic disciplines are borderless, so too are the challenges facing scientists. Developing more effective drugs, ensuring food security, protecting the environment, fighting poverty – these and many more universal challenges require a concerted global effort. Over the last decade, TAU has expanded ties and founded joint innovation centers with leading institutions on 6 continents, with a particularly dramatic push eastward into China and India. A globalized campus also meant attracting more international students, and we increased English-language degree programs from 2 in 2009 to 17 today.

 

Demonstrating Confidence: Strategic Moves

Along with looking outward to global opportunities, TAU looked inward at its own structure and brand identity and managed to rejuvenate both. We reorganized 125 academic departments into 31 schools to further encourage interdisciplinary excellence. And while already a super-brand in Israel, TAU nonetheless underwent a branding process to reposition itself as a bold, curiosity-inspiring research university that frees researchers, students and alumni to “pursue the unknown.”

 

Pursuing the Unknown: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Out of fearless questioning on the one hand, and interdisciplinary thinking on the other, emerges wonderful innovation – the new ideas, products or services that transform our lives. Over the last 10 years, TAU has flourished as a world recognized hub for generating discoveries and startups in every sphere. Among the factors contributing to this success are robust industry ties, venture capital backing, and the move to embed both technological and social entrepreneurship into the curriculum.

 

Serving the Community: Social Responsibility

Along with translating knowledge into practical solutions, TAU significantly widened access to its rich offerings for the benefit of Israeli society. TAU students work with about 100 NGOs on vital civic projects. Scholarship programs target underrepresented groups in higher education such as the Ultra-Orthodox, minorities, and young people with disabilities. At the same time, we’re diversifying and expanding our future student body with a unique program for teaching TAU online courses – for full university credit – in periphery high schools.

 

Expanding Capabilities: $1 Billion Global Campaign  

TAU’s heightened contribution and impact would not have been possible without the dedication and generosity of the University’s supporters. Donor funding has enabled the construction of 12 buildings for a total of 60,000 sq. m. (645,000 sq. ft.) in new, state-of-the-art facilities. Moreover, through the tireless activities of TAU’s Friends Associations in 26 countries, TAU’s reach is more extensive than ever before. We leveraged this heightened visibility to kick off, in 2013, the largest fundraising campaign of any Israeli university — $1 billion in 10 years – aimed at ensuring TAU’s growth momentum and fostering the Next Big Ideas. This year we reached $600 million in cash and pledges.

 

Today, after 3,600 intensive days and nights, I look back with satisfaction and forward with confidence. Mine has been a fascinating job at the apex of personal fulfilment and public service, philanthropy and private investment, and national priorities and global concerns. It has reinforced my deep belief in the singular importance of the University to Israeli society and to freedom and progress everywhere.

 

Most of all, I leave my position as President incredibly grateful for the help and support I received from my TAU family every step of the way.  I extend heartfelt thanks for the noble and inspiring teamwork that has placed TAU firmly on the map of the world’s lead

 

 

 

When Harry met Zahava

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TAU expert on post-military combat trauma, Prof. Zahava Solomon, speaks at the Veterans’ Mental Health Conference in London

TAU’s Prof. Zahava Solomon discussed issues relating to the long term trauma of military combatants with HRM Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, at the 2019 Veterans’ Mental Health Conference held at King’s College London. Prof. Solomon was one of a select number of international experts on trauma who presented at the conference. The participants’ goal was to share ideas about how best to support the psychological wellbeing of former military personnel.

The Duke, who served two tours in Afghanistan, discussed the long-term effects of military service with several speakers, praising their work. He is a regular champion of mental health advocacy through his work with the Royal Foundation’s ‘Heads Together’ project, which aims to promote a national conversation on the topic.

Solomon spoke with Prince Harry about the findings of her study that she presented and mainly about the psychological effects of participating in combat – not only on the mental health of the combatants themselves but also on their families. The Prince expressed great interest and concern for the safety of soldiers.

Prof. Zahava Solomon​

“I expressed my appreciation and admiration in the name of mental health professionals inIsrael for his involvement and sensitivity, both because of his social standing and also because of his past as a combatant,” said Solomon, an Israel Prize laureate and a retired Lieutenant-Colonel in the Israel Defense Forces. “He said he could relate to the challenges based on his own experience. For someone in his position to come forward and say it’s quite normal to be traumatized, is really beneficial.”​

​In an interview with Forces TV, Solomon said: “For many veterans, the war starts when the shooting stops. Even 20 years after the war, we have actually observed the trauma – both psychological and physical – being suffered by the traumatized combatants. And on top of that, there are individuals who did not initially succumb to stress on the battlefield, but later on, over a period of 20 years, have actually developed late onset post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Prof. Solomon heads the I-CORE Research Center for Mass Trauma at Tel Aviv University. Formerly, she held roles as Head of Research in Mental Health in the IDF Medical Corps, Head of TAU’s Bob Shapell School of Social Work, and Head of TAU’s Adler Research Center for Child Welfare and Protection. She has published over 400 academic articles and seven books. Her studies of trauma among combat veterans, prisoners of war and Holocaust survivors spans over four decades and are unparalleled in scope, depth and breath. Her work helps shape the psychosocial treatment and rehabilitation of traumatized soldiers and their families.

Featured image: Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex discusses post-military combat trauma. Credit: Daniel Leightley/Dan Dyball

Gala Advances TAU-Austria Medical Cooperation

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The Austrian Friends’ celebrate the continuing success of collaborative projects between TAU and Medical University of Vienna

Following their first gala event in November 2017, Tel Aviv University’s Austrian Friends and the Medical University of Vienna (MU) hosted their second gala dinner in Vienna, helping to raise funds for joint research projects between the two institutions. With over 200 guests in attendance, the gala celebrated the successful cooperation between TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and MU.

Dr. Bernhard Ramsauer, President of Austrian Friends, spoke of how TAU is at the heart of the Israeli high-tech innovation sector, and how it has steadily grown in stature. “This is reflected in the growing number of cooperation projects with leading academic institutions around the world,” he noted.  TAU Vice President Prof Raanan Rein also stressed the importance of international cooperation, mentioning some of TAU’s successful cooperation agreements.  

Prof.  Markus Müller, Rector of MU, and Prof. Wolf-Dieter Baumgartner, also of MU, told the audience about the longstanding collaboration with researchers at TAU decades prior to the official cooperation agreement signed in 2017, collaboration that had already yielded successful findings in medical research and clinical practice.  

Prof. Liat Kishon-Rabin, of the Department of Communication Disorders and Head of the Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, gave a lecture on “Nourishing the Brain from Infancy with Hearing and Language Interaction.”

featured:From left: Prof. Markus Müller; Prof. Liat Kishon-Rabin; Dr. Bernhard Ramsauer; Dr. Christiane Druml, Director of the Medical Collections, MU; Prof. Wolf-Dieter Baumgartner; Prof. Raanan Rein; Alexander Gertner, General Secretary of TAU’s Austrian Friends 

Connecting through Music

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TAU’s Institute for Promoting Dialogue through Music is pioneering a new tool for bringing people closer together

In Israel’s fractured society – Arab vs. Jew; religious vs. secular; Ashkenazi vs. Sephardi; Left vs. Right – there is a critical need to bring people closer together. Now, a unique institute launched at TAU’s Jaime and Joan Constantiner School of Education uses the power of music to promote dialogue in Israeli society. The Institute was initiated by TAU Governor and donor Aviad Meitar, and is being run by Israeli composer, conductor and educator Dr. Ori Leshman. 

“Music is a dialogue between composer and lyricist, between performer and audience,” says Dr. Leshman. “My vision is to use music as a kind of emotional technology tool to extend this dialogue beyond the music – to unite people from dissimilar cultural, ethnic or national backgrounds, overcome barriers, and improve society in Israel and worldwide.”

The “Music for Dialogue” (MFD method and programs were collectively pioneered by Leshman, Aviad Meitar and businessman and entrepreneur Amnon Herzig, a member of the Advisory Council of the Institute. Meitar developed a project entitled, “Music as a Tool for Conflict Resolution,” during his 2016 Fellowship at the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.

He is a second generation member of the Meitar family, major benefactors to TAU in the fields of law, management and philanthropy studies. Meitar’s sister, Dafna Meitar-Nechmad, is co-chair of the TAU $1 billion Global Campaign.​

​

Mr. Aviad Meitar and Prof. Joseph Klafter (Photo: Israel Hadari)

Benefiting from TAU’s interdisciplinary campus culture, the new Institute combines music with education, psychology, brain studies, sociology, communication and data science.

It promotes research on the influence of music, with several promising studies already enriching knowledge and contributing to a more intelligent use of music to create dialogue in a wide range of disciplines, including therapeutic ones.

Additional activities include teaching; support for student ventures; conferences and workshops; grants to students with special achievements; and social projects.

How It Works

Leshman describes how, at student workshops, the MFD method breaks down barriers. Before their first weekly meeting, students enter songs that are most meaningful to them onto the website Pick-A-Music (www.pickamusic.com).,The site was conceived by Leshman as a social platform for sharing musical and personal experiences and facilitating the group activities that are part of the MFD in-depth process.

“Then, during the workshop, something amazing happens,” says Leshman. “In no time participants begin sharing intimate personal stories with one another though they never met before.” Workshop participants often surprise one another with their musical preferences and even more so with their stories. “We can see that we mustn’t judge people. They’re much more complex than we think, as are their musical identities,” he says.  

Leshman is not naive enough to believe that Music for Dialogue can solve all the problems between populations that live so close to one another but rarely interact.

“The idea is ‘let’s first get to know one another as human beings,’ and music is an amazing tool for that,” he says.

Institute founder Aviad Meitar is a TAU alumnus in law and has an MBA from Boston University Graduate School of Management. He has been Chairman of Quadrant European Beverages Ltd., the Pepsi bottler for Bulgaria, since 2007. Mr. Meitar is married with three children. He plays the French horn with various amateur orchestras.  

Featured image: From left: Dr. Ori Leshman, Mr. Amnon Herzig, Mr. Aviad Meitar and TAU President Joseph Klafter. Photo: Israel Hadari

TAU’s Ben Luria is one of the first Israeli Rhodes Scholars

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We talked to the Political Science major just before he flew to Oxford to begin his Master’s degree

What does former Canadian Prime Minister John Turner have in common with three Australian prime ministers, Bill Clinton and Ben Luria, a graduate of Political Science at Tel Aviv University? They all received the most prestigious scholarship in the academic world – the Rhodes Scholarship. Rhodes Sholars are considered “future leaders” and receive funding to study at Oxford University. The expectation is that in the future recipients will contribute to their societies and enter public life, although many have also been successful in the business world.

This year two Israelis received the Rhodes Scholarship, an honor not many Israeli students have recieved in the scholarship’s 116 year history. We are pleased to announce that this year one of them is a member of the TAU family – Ben Luria, who holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Tel Aviv University. A moment before he packed up and went to England for two years, we asked him about his feelings and plans for the future, and also got a tip about his Spotify playlist.

Ben Luria

Ben Luria, recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship

Ben, in all honesty, did you think you’d get the scholarship when you applied?

I hoped, but I didn’t completely believe it. Seeing the high level of the scholarship required from the start, and then when I saw some of the other applicants and how impressive they were, I didn’t think I would be one of the recipients. Even in the introductory meetings with the selection committee and in the interviews themselves, I didn’t feel at any stage that I had it. But I brought my best self and my true self, my ideas and achievements but also my character, humor and honesty. Throughout the process, I made sure I was doing the best I could, and that helped to deal with my fears.

What does the scholarship mean to you? What will you be able to achieve with it that you haven’t been able to before?

Above all, it’s an amazing feeling that you know you were chosen for something like this. In my opinion, more than being a scholarship of academic ability, this is a leadership scholarship and it expresses confidence in my ability to bring about change in the future. The opportunity to study at an institution as esteemed as Oxford and to join such a distinguished family of influential Rhodes Scholars is a wonderful gift, and I hope to use the time there to learn and acquire tools that can serve me in the future and help promote change and social reform.

You were marked as a “future leader”. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Working for the society in which I live, in the hope of being in a position of influence and leadership. It can be on the public level but can also be through the third sector or social entrepreneurship. In any case, I hope and believe that my future will be directly related to contributing to my community.

Tell us a bit about your academic journey at Tel Aviv University.

At the university I studied for a Master’s degree in Security and Diplomacy at the School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs. As part of one of my seminars, I was researched the struggle of the Persian Gulf countries against Iran and China-US relations, which is the continuation of a BA in Sociology and Communication at the Open University, which I began during high school.

Have you always been an outstanding student?

Not really. Although I wasn’t afraid of not graduating high school, as an opinionated person from elementary school to high school, I was suspended more than once. My parents have grown accustomed to receiving phone calls and summons from teachers. In fact, I wrote about it as part of the scholarship application. The house I grew up in was very free in its educational approach. It allowed me to delve deeper into my interests, in any way I saw fit. So in high school I found myself taking courses at the Open University out of personal interest.

What do you think studying the social sciences gives students?

I feel that social sciences allow us to understand the reality around us, a bit like unplugging from the matrix. The ideas you lean seep deep into your consciousness and give you the ability to analyze events from a much broader perspective: understanding trends in depth, understanding the social structures in which things take place, analyzing the behavior of the various players in the arena and their interests. Suddenly, news about a demonstration, a new agreement, a social phenomenon or a political turnaround take on deeper, even surprising, meanings. Aside from the fun of understanding the reality around you, I think it also makes us better and more active citizens.

Who are the lecturers at TAU who most influenced you?

In the program I studied there are lecturers from diverse backgrounds, each of whom brought with them a deep and unique knowledge of their field, along with great accessibility to students, which I believe is the key to true learning. I can mention and thank the head of the program, Prof. Ezer Gat, whose course on strategic thought was really profound, and Dr. Yoram Evron, who supported me in the study of China-US relations and helped me a lot thanks to his attempt to help me develop a new sphere of knowledge.

What’s one thing that you’ve gotten from your studies at TAU that will stay with for the rest of your life?

I see learning as a way to avoid freezing in place. The habit of constantly acquiring new knowledge and discovering areas that were foreign to you, and being in another framework besides the professional one, makes us better rounded people, in my eyes.

 What will you miss most when you’re abroad?

I believe I’ll try to keep the home atmosphere going. I really like to cook vegan food, do yoga and try to go to as many live shows as possible, and believe that at Oxford I’ll find all these things too. I will miss the warm weather and the sea, but my playlists on Spotify will certainly help you, and you’re welcome to follow me! I’m BenLur93 or Ben Luria.

Before we say goodbye – do you have a tip for first year students?

Maybe it’s obvious, but I think it’s important to be interested in your field of study and your chosen courses. Obviously you have to think about your professional future and earning potential, but when you find a field you’re already drawn to everything becomes simpler. I chose these two degrees according to a strong personal interest in these fields, and this is what made the learning experience so positive for me.

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