cover 2006

52 BGU NOW
Excellence Recognized
Prof. Herzl Aharoni from the Department
of Electrical and
Computer
Engineering has
been nominated
as a Fellow of
the Institute of
Physics. The
Institute is one of
the largest international organizations
in this field, with 37,000 members
worldwide. It is devoted to increasing
the understanding and application of
physics. It believes in and promotes
ethical integrity in all scientific activity,
including education, research,
publication and the exploitation of
knowledge. Prof. Aharoni was
recognized for his achievements over
40 years in the fields of physics and
technology. He specializes in
microelectronics and new process
development of semiconductor
electronic materials and devices.
Aharon Appelfeld, professor emeritus
of the Department
of Hebrew
Literature, was
awarded the
prestigious Nelly
Sachs Prize in
Dortmund,
Germany. The
prize is named after the Jewish author
Nelly Sachs, who was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966 with
S.Y. Agnon. The citation lauded Appelfeld
for his literary efforts toward international
understanding. The judges
noted that Appelfeld’s wide literary
works “advance spiritual tolerance and
appeasement as the principles of
peaceful co-existence.” This year,
Prof. Appelfeld also received the insignia
of Commander in the Order of Arts and
Letters from the French Republic,
established in 1957 by the French
Minister of Culture in recognition of
outstanding achievement in the arts and
literature.
Dr. Gonen Ashkenasy of the Department
of Chemistry has
received the
prestigious Career
Development
Award of the
Human Frontier
Science Program
(HFSP).
Ashkenasy did his post-doctoral training
at the Scripps Research Institute in
California, working with novel
assemblies of peptides. His research
concentrates on de novo functional
peptides and proteins. The HFSP
supports novel, innovative and
interdisciplinary basic research focused
on the complex mechanisms of living
organisms. It encourages novel
collaborations that bring biologists
together with scientists from fields such
as physics, mathematics, chemistry and
computer and engineering sciences to
focus on problems at the frontier of the
life sciences.
Prof. Dan Bar-On from the Department
of Behavioral
Sciences,
together with his
research partner
Prof. Sami Adwan
from Bethlehem
University, was
recognized by the
European Association for the Education
of Adults (EAEA) with a special Grundtvig
Award for “active citizenship for a
democratic society.” The EAEA is a
European NGO with 115 member
organizations from 40 countries working
in the field of adult learning and
representing more than 50 million
learners Europe-wide. According to the
EAEA, their project “proves that in spite
of the ongoing violent conflict and the
tremendous obstacles, the sides
involved can develop enough trust and
hope to co-operate and jointly create a
product that may promote peaceful coexistence
between the sides.”
Dr. Edna Monselise Ben-Izhak of the
Department of
Chemistry has
received the
Recanati-Chais-
Rashi Award for
the Entrepreneur
Teacher in
recognition of her
contribution to the advancement of
special needs children. The award is
given to those teachers whose work
reflects ability and achievement over
and above dedication and competent
performance of the standard curriculum
and who have succeeded in developing
unique initiatives which apply effective
responses to the problems and
challenges arising from the complex and
ever-changing reality of today’s schools.
Dr. Ben-Izhak initiated the “green
classroom” for her pupils, instilling in
them the principles of ecology and
environmental sciences which has
enhanced the quality of life in their
community.
Prof. Sammy Boussiba, head of the
Microaalgal
Biotechnology
Laboratory at the
Jacob Blaustein
Institutes for
Desert Research
and incumbent of
the Miles and
Lillian Cahn Chair in Economic Botany
in Arid Zones, was appointed President
of the International Society of Applied
Phycology (ISAP), a nonprofit organization
that aims to promote research,
preservation of algal genotypes and
dissemination of knowledge concerning
the utilization of algae. A member of the
Albert Katz Department of Dryland
Biotechnologies, Boussiba focuses on
the mass production of microalgae for
various commercial purposes, utilizing
the high temperature, brackish or sea
water and solar irradiance that abound
year round in the desert.