Pioneer Scientists
Prof. Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky
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Prof. Aharon Katchalsky was born on September 15, 1914, in Lodz, Poland. His family immigrated to British-ruled Palestine, and he grew up in Jerusalem. Following high school in Jerusalem, he enrolled in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received the MS degree in 1937 and the PhD in 1940. After completion of his doctorate, he began working there as an assistant in the Chemistry Department. In addition to his scientific pursuits, Aharon was involved in military defense and research, both as a member of the "Haganah," the Jewish self-defense organization, and as one of the founders of "Hemed" - the scientific corps of the Israel Defense Forces. In 1948 Aharon Katzir accepted an offer to join the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. There he established the Department of Polymer Research, and later the Department of Plastics Research. Aharon's brother, Prof. Efraim Katzir, who later became the fourth President of the State of Israel, also joined the academic staff of the Weizmann Institute during that period, and established the Department of Biophysics. In 1959 Aharon Katzir founded the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, an institution that sought to provide a forum for Israeli scholars and scientists and to represent Israeli scholarship, and science on the international scene. Martin Buber was the Academy's first President, from 1960 to 1962, with Katzir serving as Vice President. From 1962 to 1968 Aharon Katzir served as Academy President. From 1962 to 1963 he was Visiting Professor at Harvard University, from 1967 to 1968 as Visiting Miller Professor, and from 1971 Professor in Residence of Medical Physics, University of California at Berkeley. He had several international posts of leadership, including president of the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics from 1964 to 1969, and, thereafter, honorary vice-president. He presided over that organization's congress in Vienna in 1966. He served as an Associate of the Neurosciences Research Program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1962, on the Scientific Council of the Solvay Laboratories - the Free University of Brussels, the Council of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the Council of the International Council of Scientific Unions (lCSU), and the American Chemical Society's Colloid Division. In 1966 he was made honorary president of the All-Swiss Symposium on Membrane Phenomena. Professor Aharon Katzir was killed on May 30, 1972 by a Japanese terrorist at Ben-Gurion Airport. The Weizmann Institute of Science established The Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky Center in 1972 following his tragic death. The Center promotes activities in physical biology and macromolecular science and in such other areas of science that fall within the wide-ranging interests that Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky had. The Center furthers international scientific cooperation through the organization of scientific meetings and the exchange of scientists. Of particular concern to the Center is the impact of scientific and technological advances on human society. Tel-Aviv University hosts the Annual Program of “Bekur Hamahapecha” (named after his book In the Crucible of Scientific Revolution, published in Hebrew, 1971) lectures in Prof. Aharon Katzir’s memory. Prof. Katzir is survived by his daughter Yael Katzir and sons Prof. Avraham Katzir and Prof. Gadi Katzir. |
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| Fields of Research | |
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Polyelectrolytes structure and function of synthetic polymers ·
Mechanochemistry - energy exchange ·
Non-equilibrium thermodynamics in biophysics · Brain and memory function at levels of molecules, cells, and the entire system |
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| Selected Awards and Honorary Degrees | |
1954 Weizmann Prize 1961 Israel Prize Exact Sciences 1965 Doctor Honoris Causa, Clarkson College of Technology, Potsdam, New York 1969 Doctor Honoris Causa of the Free University of Brussels 1972 Rothchild Prize, Chemistry |
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| Selected Publications | |
| Link to Scopus Database |
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| Documents Preserved at the WIS Archives | |
| Prof. Katzir’s personal archive, including documents, letters, protocols, lectures, scientific documentation, paper notes, personal objects, photos and multimedia, a file of documents about the Lod Airport massacre, is treasured and preserved in the Weizmann Institute of Science Archives. |
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| Selected Archival Documents | |
The American Chemical Society - appreciation for A. Katzir's contribution, 1951 |
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| Honorary Degree - Doctor of Science from Thomas S. Clarckson Memorial College of Technology, 1965 | |
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| International Brain Research Organization - Membership, 1969 | |
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In memory of Prof. Aharon Katzir Rehovot, vol. 6 no. 4, summer 1972 |
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| Newspaper report about the massacre at Lod Airport - The Jerusalem Post, 1972 | |
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Selected Bibliography |
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| A. Katzir-Katchalsky. Biophysical Journal, Vol. 15(7): iiv, 1975 | |
| F. O.Schmitt and R. B. Livingston. Aharon (Katzir) Katchalsky, Ann.Rev. Biophys. Bioeng., Vol. 2 (1-7), 1973 | |
| O. Mokady Shavitt. Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky: 30 years since his death. Chemistry in Israel, Bull. Israel Chem. Soc., Vol. 10 (16-19), 2002 | |
