Speakers

Dr. Avraham (Rami) Aizenbud

Department of Mathematics | Weizmann Institute of Science

Born in Holon in 1983, Dr. Rami Aizenbud completed his BSc studies in mathematics at Tel-Aviv University in a special program that allowed him to complete his studies during high school. He later served as an algorithms developer in the military intelligence unit of the IDF. After his military service, he received his MSc degree from Tel Aviv University in 2006 and received a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2010.

Prof. Israel Bar-Joseph

Vice President for Resource Development|Weizmann Institute of Science

Prof. Israel Bar-Joseph was born in Israel in 1953. He graduated with a BSc in Physics from Tel Aviv University (1979), and an MSc (1982) and PhD (1986) in Physics from the Weizmann Institute of Science, with honors. He then spent several years as a postdoctoral fellow and visiting scientist at the AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey. In 1989, he joined the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Abraham Ben Naftali

Chair, International Board|Weizmann Institute of Science

A much-respected member of Israel’s legal establishment, Abraham Ben-Naftali has combined a successful career in law with a commitment to public service.
After completing his undergraduate studies in Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he completed an LL.M. degree Summa cum Laude at Tel Aviv University. During his military service in the Israel Defense Forces, he served as military prosecutor and as president of a military court.

Lawrence S. Blumberg

Chair, Board of Trustees, Feinberg Graduate School | Weizmann Institute of Science

Lawrence (Larry) Blumberg is a trusts and estates attorney whose New York City law firm, Gerald & Lawrence Blumberg, LLP, represents individuals and families in estate and tax planning. In 1981 Larry was introduced to the Institute by his father, Gerald Blumberg, who was a member of the Institute's Board of Governors. Since 1984, Larry has been a member of the Board of the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he has served on its Executive Board and as Vice Chair of the Board.

Prof. Marvin L. Cohen

Ad-hoc Co-Chair, Sacientific and Academic Advisory Committee | Weizmann Institute of Science

Marvin L. Cohen was born in Montreal and moved to San Francisco when he was 12 years old. He was an undergraduate at the University of California at Berkeley and completed graduate studies at the University of Chicago in 1963 (Ph.D. 1964). After a one year postdoctoral position with the Theory Group at Bell Laboratories (1963-64), he joined the Berkeley Physics Faculty. He became University Professor in1995.

Dr. Barak Dayan

Department of Chemical Physics | Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Barak Dayan completed his BSc in physics and mathematics cum laude at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1992), within the Israel Defense Forces’ elite Talpiot program. He went on to complete an MSc in physics cum laude at the Hebrew University (1999), while working as an R&D Project Manager and Senior Physicist in the Prime Minister’s Office. He received a PhD in physics at the Weizmann Institute in 2004, and conducted postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) for three years.

Ido Dissentshik

Chair, Executive Board | Weizmann Institute of Science

Ido Joseph Dissentshik was born in Tel Aviv in 1940. He holds a BA in economics and statistics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1964), a masters’ degree, cum laude, in journalism from Columbia University, New York (1966), and an MBA diploma from Tel Aviv University (1993).
In 1965, he launched a prolific journalistic career at Maariv daily newspaper. For 26 years, he served in numerous reporting, editorial, and management positions,

Prof. Michael Fainzilber

Department of Biological Chemistry, Chair of the Feinberg Graduate School Postdoctoral Fellowship Program | Weizmann Institute of Science

Prof. Michael (Mike) Fainzilber was born in Tanzania, where an early exposure to the wildlife of the Serengeti Plains and the Indian Ocean instilled in him a lifelong fascination with the biological sciences. In 1972, his family made aliyah to Israel and settled in Haifa. He received his BSc, MSc and PhD degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, before carrying out postdoctoral research on nerve growth factors at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

Prof. Lucio Frydman

Head, the Clore Institute for High-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy | Weizmann Institute of Science

Born in Argentina, Prof. Lucio Frydman earned his BSc in chemistry (1986) and PhD in physical chemistry (1990) from the University of Buenos Aires. He undertook postdoctoral studies at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California. He then joined the faculty of the University of Illinois’ Department of Chemistry in 1992, where he became Full Professor in 1999.

Shulamit Geri

Vice President for Administration and Finance|Weizmann Institute of Science

Shulamit (Shuli) Geri is has been Vice President for Administration and Finance at the Weizmann Institute of Science since August 2012, responsible for Management, Finance, Human Resources, Construction, Procurement and Operations. She joined the Institute in 2003 as General Counsel and from that time until her recent appointment addressed all legal matters relating to the activities of the Weizmann Institute and its entities. 
 

Institute Professor Haim Harari

Founding Chairman, Davidson Institute of Science Education

Prof. Haim Harari was born in Jerusalem in 1940. He has mainly contributed to three areas: Particle Physics Research, Science Education and Science Management and Policy Making.
Prof. Harari served as President of the Weizmann Institute from 1988 to 2001. During his presidency, the Institute entered numerous new scientific fields, built several dozen new buildings, raised more than one billion dollars in philanthropic funds, hired more than half of its current tenured professors and became one of the highest royalty-earning academic organizations in the world.

Prof. Herbert Jäckle

Co-Chair, Scientific and Academic Advisory Committee|Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Herbert Jäckle is Director at the Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie (Göttingen, Germany) and former Vice-President of the Max Planck Society (2002-2014). He studied Chemistry and Biology (Universität Freiburg) and spent his postdoc at the University of Texas at Austin (USA). He held positions as staff scientist at the EMBL (Heidelberg), as research group leader (Max-Planck-Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie, Tübingen) and as professor for genetics (Ludwig Maximilian Universität, München).

Prof. Zohar Komargodski

Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics | Weizmann Institute of Science

Born in the USSR (Ukraine) in 1983, Prof. Zohar Komargodski earned his BSc in physics and mathematics from Tel Aviv University in 2004. He conducted his graduate studies in physics at the Weizmann Institute, earning an MSc in 2006 and a PhD in 2008. After conducting postdoctoral research at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he was accepted as a long-term member, Prof. Komargodski joined the faculty of the Weizmann Institute in March of 2011.

Dr. Michal Leskes

Department of Materials and Interfaces | Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Michal Leskes was born in Safed, Israel. Following military service in the Israel Defense Forces, she completed a BSc in chemistry summa cum laude at Tel Aviv University in 2004. She earned her PhD in chemical physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2010, and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge, UK. She joins the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Materials and Interfaces in July 2015.

Ellen Merlo

Chair | American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science

Ellen Merlo held the position of Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Philip Morris USA, from March 1995 until her retirement in March of 2003. During that time Ms. Merlo was responsible for directing internal and external communications, public affairs activities, corporate responsibility planning and programs, consumer affairs and community relations, including charitable grants on behalf of the company. She also served as the senior spokesperson for Philip Morris USA.

Dr. Edvardas Narevicius

Department of Chemical Physics | Weizmann Institute of Science

Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1973, Dr. Narevicius began his career in science by winning the first place in two all-Soviet Union Chemistry Olympiads for high school students, in 1989 and 1990. He then immigrated to Israel and did his undergraduate and graduate studies at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, earning a BSc summa cum laude in chemistry in 1995 and a PhD, also in chemistry, in 2002. During his PhD studies, he served for three years in the Israel Defense Forces.

Prof. Michal Neeman

Vice President | Weizmann Institute of Science

Born in Rehovot, Prof. Michal Neeman received a BSc in chemistry and biology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and her MSc and PhD degrees in chemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science.  She did her postdoctoral research in the Life Sciences Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory (New Mexico), where she conducted research utilizing nuclear magnetic resonance micro-imaging.  In 1991, she returned to the Weizmann Institute, where she joined the Department of Hormone Research (now the Department of Biological Regulation).

Prof. Irit Sagi

Dean, Feinberg Graduate School | Weizmann Institute of Science

Prof. Irit Sagi received a BSc degree from American University in Washington DC (1988), and MSc and PhD degrees in biophysics/bioinorganics from Georgetown University (1993). After her studies, she returned to Israel, where she did postdoctoral research at the Weizmann Institute of Science in the group of Prof. Ada Yonath, laureate of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Prof. Yardena Samuels

Director, Ekard Institute for Cancer Diagnosis Research, MICC | Weizmann Institute of Science

Prof. Yardena Samuels was born in Tel Hashomer, Israel. She received her BSc from Cambridge University, UK in 1993, and earned an MSc in immunology and cancer research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hadassah Medical School in 1997. She completed a PhD in Molecular Cancer Biology at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Imperial College, London in 2002. Prof. Samuels worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 2003 to 2006.

Dr. Ruth Scherz-Shouval

Department of Biological Chemistry | Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Ruth Scherz-Shouval is the daughter of Prof. Avigdor Scherz, a pioneer in the field of photo-dynamic therapy in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the Weizmann Institute. She earned a BSc in the life sciences with honors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2002 and a PhD in biological chemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2008 (with Prof. Zvulun Elazar).

Dr. Maya Schuldiner

Department of Molecular Genetics | Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Maya Schuldiner was born in Israel. She completed two years of military service in 1996, and graduated magna cum laude with a BSc in Biology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1998. She went on to complete both her MSc and a PhD in genetics, also at the Hebrew University, in 1999 and 2003. She conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California in San Francisco from 2003 until 2008, when she joined the faculty of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Dr. Michal Sharon

Department of Biological Chemistry | Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Michal Sharon earned a BSc at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1996) and a PhD in the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Structural Biology in 2003. She conducted her postdoctoral research at University of Cambridge, UK, where, in 2006, she was elected as a Research Fellow at Clare Hall College. She joined the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Weizmann Institute in 2007. She is the incumbent of the Elaine Blond Career Development Chair in Perpetuity.

Ari Shavit

Columnist and Writer | Author, My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel

Ari Shavit is the author of the critically-acclaimed, New York Times bestseller My Promised Land: the Triumph and Tragedy of Israel. An outspoken columnist for Haaretz, Israel’s newspaper of record, and a prominent commentator on Israeli Public Television, Shavit has become one of the strongest voices in the nation’s public arena. He challenges the dogmas of both Right and Left with his unique insights into the roles of Israel and Zionism in the 21st century.

Dr. Ziv Shulman

Department of Immunology | Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Ziv Shulman was born in Rehovot. He earned his BSc in animal science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He earned an MSc (2005) and PhD in Immunology (2010), both with honors, at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Since 2011, Dr. Shulman has been a postdoctoral research fellow at the Rockefeller University in New York City, and he will join the Department of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute in August 2015.

Prof. Noam Sobel

Head, Department of Neurobiology | Weizmann Institute of Science

Prof. Noam Sobel was born in Haifa, Israel. After completing his undergraduate education at Tel Aviv University, he joined the prestigious PhD neuroscience program at Stanford University, from which he graduated with high honors, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech, Pasadena).

Dr. Ofer Yizhar

Department of Neurobiology | Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Ofer Yizhar was awarded a BSc in biology with distinction at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2001 and a PhD in neurobiology with distinction at Tel Aviv University in 2008. He did his postdoctoral research at Stanford University in California from 2008 to 2011.  In 2011, he joined the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Prof. Daniel Zajfman

President|Weizmann Institute of Science

Born in Belgium, in 1959, Prof. Daniel Zajfman moved to Israel in 1979. He received a BSc (1983) and a PhD in atomic physics (1989) from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. After working as a consultant for Elscint, in Haifa, Prof. Zajfman spent two years at the Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago, as a postdoctoral fellow. He returned to Israel in 1991 and joined the staff of the Weizmann Institute's Department of Particle Physics (now the Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics)  where he is the incumbent of the Simon Weinstock Professorial Chair of Astrophysics. 2003.