Prof. Alon Chen awarded Dr. Rony Attar the prestigious Weizmann Award in the Sciences and the Humanities in November 2024 in recognition of his vision for and establishment of PERACH, which began at the Institute in the 1970s as a personal undertaking by Dr. Attar and evolved into a nationwide mentoring and social impact project. The recognition ceremony took place at the Weisgal House on campus.
In its 50-year history, PERACH has improved the lives of girls and boys throughout Israel, by harnessing the skills and motivation of thousands of university student across Israel who volunteer for the sake of Israel’s youth and, in exchange, benefit from tuition scholarships.
Prof. Chen praised Dr. Attar for his innovative program, which has helped to reduce social and educational gaps between Israeli children from all communities and regions—the center and the geographic periphery, Jews and Arabs, religious and secular—and offers every child a more equal opportunity to prosper and flourish.
The award ceremony highlighted Dr. Attar’s spirit of volunteerism and the broader values on which the program’s mission rests—caring and mutual responsibility—which inspire hope for a better society.