Friends events in Latin America
New group in Rio, L to R: Ricardo Hechtman, Marcelo Herskovits, Ronaldo Adler (Hillel President), Renato Cohen (Vice President of FIERJ, the Jewish Federation of Rio de Janeiro), Cláudio Goldemberg (also FIERJ Vice President), Mariano Zalis, Marcelo Astrachan (Vice President for Rio of the Brazilian Association of Friends), Eduardo Rabinovitch (Vice President of ARI), and Flávio Stanger (President of the FIERJ council).
A new friends group in Rio de Janeiro, part of the Brazilian Friends of the Weizmann Institute of Science, was launched at a meeting that filled Hillel Rio on February 17, in the presence of Mario Fleck, President of the Brazilian Association of Friends of the Weizmann Institute, and Dany Schmit, the Institute’s CEO of External Affairs for Latin America.
The event involved new and existing friends. Mario Fleck spoke about the activities of the Association, including how it has fostered scientific partnerships with entities such as FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation), the selection of Brazilian students for the Dr. Bessie F. Lawrence Summer Science Institute on campus, and hosting events like Science on Tap and Weizmann Talks, which creatively engage the public in Weizmann science.
In December, Weizmann Institute President Prof. Daniel Zajfman traveled to São Paulo, Brazil, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he met with donors and business leaders. On December 6, Prof. Zajfman met with business and academic professionals at the offices of Grupo Insud in Buenos Aires, hosted by CEO Dr. Hugo Sigman and his wife, biochemist Silvia Gold. Lino Barañao, Argentina's Minister of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, also participated in the meeting, as well as Israel’s Ambassador to Argentina, Ilan Sztulman; resident of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Dr. Alejandro Ceccatto; and university rectors, business managers, and researchers.
