cover 2006

Honors Bestowed
From left: Prof. Jehuda Reinharz, Menachem Perlmutter, Terry Meyerhoff Rubenstein, Yossi Banai , Eliyahu Levant, Jacob Türkel,
Ralph I. Goldman
Honorary Doctoral Degrees and
Ben-Gurion Negev Awards were
bestowed upon a group of
committed and accomplished
individuals during the annual Ben-
Gurion Day commemorations
which began a year-long celebration
in honor of the 100th anniversary of
David Ben-Gurion’s aliyah. Vice
Premier Shimon Peres was the guest
of honor at the ceremony. Honorary
Doctoral degrees were conferred
upon the following recipients:
Prize-winning Israeli actor, singer,
director and songwriter Yossi Banai
(who has since passed away)
received the award for his multifaceted
talents, including his ability
as artist and performer “to
illuminate the small miracles of
daily life and thus express his great
love for his homeland and the
ordinary people who inhabit it.”
Ralph I. Goldman of the United
States – who has served as the
Executive Vice-President and
Honorary Executive Vice-President
of the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee (JDC), as
well as advisor on Diaspora Affairs
to David Ben-Gurion – was
recognized for his efforts as a
dedicated philanthropist who
supports worthy causes in Israel and
the Diaspora and promotes Jewish
education and leadership.
Prof. Jehuda Reinharz, an
internationally-renowned scholar of
Jewish and Israeli history, who has
been serving as President of
Brandeis University for the past
decade, was honored for his prowess
as a teacher and researcher and for
his dedication to strengthening
relations between Jewish
communities and academic
institutions in the United States and
Israel.
Terry Meyerhoff Rubenstein of the
United States, third-generational
leader and Executive Vice-President
of the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff
Family Charitable Funds
Foundation, was honored for her
leading role in the Jewish
philanthropic world and in
promoting education and culture in
Israel, particularly in the Negev.
Retiring Israeli Supreme Court
Justice Jacob Türkel was recognized
for his support of the University
throughout the years as a member
of its Board of Governors and
Executive Committee and Chairman
of its Constitutional Committee, and
for dedicating “his time and energy
to promoting higher education in
the Negev and molding the
character of BGU.”
Ben-Gurion Negev Awards were
given to two citizens of the Negev:
Eliyahu Levant, the chess
grandmaster who came to Beer-
Sheva upon his immigration from
the Former Soviet Union and singlehandedly
placed the city on the
world chess map; and Menachem
Perlmutter, a Holocaust survivor
and longtime member of BGU’s
Board of Governors and Executive
Committee, who has been active in
promoting settlement in the Negev
for over fifty years.
BGU NOW 37