WIM no. 17 Spring 2020

מכון ויצמן למדע 34–35 S P R I N G 2 0 2 0 Prof. Jonathan Dorfan , a particle physicist and the former President of Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University in Japan. Prof. Dorfan led the design and construction of the B-factory accelerator complex and coordinated other projects at SLAC—the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center that enabled experiments leading to the 2008 Nobel Prize. A member of the Weizmann Institute’s International Board, and longtime co-chair of its Scientific and Academic Advisory Committee, Prof. Dorfan’s career achievements and institutional impact have made him a treasured leader of the world scientific community. Mr. Mario Fleck , South American business leader and philanthropist who founded the Brazilian Friends of the Weizmann Institute of Science and serves as its President. Under Fleck’s charismatic leadership, the Brazilian Friends became a community dedicated to supporting cancer research—a goal significantly advanced with the inauguration of the Weizmann- Brazil Tumor Bank, an on-campus facility providing critical resources for scientists seeking to advance studies related to cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Mr. Alex Levac , a photojournalist, is a 2005 Israel Prize laureate. Mr. Levac elevates the human condition by framing everyday scenes with humor and compassion. The self-declared “paparazzi of the anonymous,” he has created riveting images that document the joys and struggles of people around the world, and give a lasting visual expression to one of history’s most astounding accomplishments: the re-establishment of the Jewish people as a free nation in their ancient homeland. Prof. Raphael Mechoulam , pioneering research scientist who discovered THC—the psychoactive ingredient of the cannabis plant—and the neural circuits that process THC in the brain. A Weizmann scientist who earned his PhD at the Institute, Prof. Mechoulam’s high-impact findings were of foundational significance for today’s growing medical cannabis industry, and continue to drive important advances in the field of drug design. Prof. Martha C. Nussbaum is a philosopher at the University of Chicago whose research encompasses law, divinity, classics, ethics, and cognitive neuroscience. Prof. Nussbaum is one of the founders of the Capabilities Approach—an acclaimed theoretical model designed to point out what people need to have in order to live a good and successful life. By championing the place of emotion in the establishment and understanding of human values, her work helps us understand divisions in society, and offers new strategies for overcoming them. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz is the first person since the medieval sage Rashi to have completed a full translation of and commentary on the Babylonian Talmud, and of the Bible, into modern Hebrew, as well as English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Internationally regarded as one of the greatest rabbis of this century and of the last, Rabbi Steinsaltz— whose academic background includes university training in mathematics, physics, and chemistry—is an educator who founded schools, and, through his own teaching, continues to promote spiritual advancement for every human being through the removal of obstacles to Jewish learning. TVML Foundation lauded for Weizmann-MIT Collaboration Fund T he Weizmann Institute celebrated a visionary gift by Marcos and Vivian Lederman of Brazil to establish the TVML Foundation MIT-Weizmann Collaboration Fund, which supports joint research projects in computer sciences. The first beneficiary of the fund is Prof. Guy Rothblum of the Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, who is working with MIT colleagues on advancing encryption for improved data privacy. Weizmann MAGAZINE