Hebrew University of Jerusalem

 

at Mt. Scopus, Givat Ram, Ein Karem, and Rehovot, Israel; coeducational. First proposed in 1882, formally opened 1925. It is the world's largest Jewish university and is noted for its work on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The university has faculties of humanities, mathematics and natural science, law, agriculture, and social sciences, as well as schools of education, social work, library and archive studies, and business, and operates the Hebrew Univ.–Hadassah School of Medicine. The Jewish National and University Library (1892) contains over 2 million volumes. The university maintains numerous research institutes in agriculture, business and finance, energy, law, medicine, and historical and contemporary Jewry. The Harry S. Truman International Center for the Advancement of Peace is affiliated.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים
Established	1918
Type	Public
President	Menachem Magidor
Vice-Presidents	Elhanan Hacohen, Carmi Gilon, Hillel Bercovier
Faculty	1,200
Undergraduates	12,000
Postgraduates	10,000
Location	Jerusalem, Israel
Nickname	Hebrew U, HUJI
Website	www.huji.ac.il

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Hebrew: האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים‎, Arabic: الجامعة العبرية في القدس) is one of Israel's oldest, largest, and most important institutes of higher learning and research.

It is one of eight universities in Israel, and is recognized internationally as a member of the 100 most outstanding academic institutions in the world.^[1] The First Board of Governors included Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber, and Chaim Weizmann. The Hebrew University developed a world renowned reputation for its studies in the sciences and in religion, a subject in which it possesses abundant resources, including the world's largest Jewish studies collection, and has been home to many seminary researchers and teachers in various fields, including Gershom Scholem, Martin Buber, Michael O. Rabin, Daniel Kahneman, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, David Gross, Saharon Shelah, and Robert Aumann. The university has educated four of Israel's prime ministers, including current prime minister, also deputy prime minister, and president of the Supreme Court. Twenty-five percent of the Knesset are graduates, as are 12 of the country's 15 Supreme Court Justices. Its graduates also include Nobel laureates in science and economics, leading scholars and humanists, and many of the nation's foremost professionals. The Hebrew University is ranked 60 in the world according to the league table produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2006.^[2] Webometrics consistently ranked it as the #1 university in the Middle East, although as of January 2007, Israel is ranked among European universities.

History

One of the Zionist movement's dreams was to establish a Hebrew university in the Land of Israel. The establishment of the university was proposed as far back as 1884 in the Kattowitz conference of the Hibbat Zion society. A major supporter of the idea was Albert Einstein, a Jewish physicist, who later bequeathed all his property and writings to the University. They are currently held in the university's Albert Einstein Library.

The cornerstone for the university was laid in 1918, and, seven years later, on April 1, 1925, the Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus of Jerusalem was opened at a gala ceremony attended by, among others, leaders of world Jewry including the University's chairman of the board, Chaim Weizmann, distinguished academic and communal figures, and British dignitaries including Lord Arthur James Balfour, Viscount Allenby, and Sir Herbert Samuel. The university's first Chancellor was Dr Judah Magnes.

By 1947, the University had grown to become a large, well-established research and teaching institution. It comprised faculties or other units in humanities, science, medicine, education, and agriculture (the last at a campus in Rehovot); the Jewish National Library (later becoming the Jewish National and University Library), a University press; and an adult education center.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Arabs repeatedly attacked the University, located to the northeast of Jerusalem, and convoys moving between the Israeli controlled section of Jerusalem and the University.

After the attack on the Hadassah medical convoy in 1948, the Mount Scopus campus was cut off from the Jewish part of Jerusalem. When the Jordanian government reneged on the 1949 Armistice Agreements and refused Israeli access to the Mount Scopus campus, the University was forced to relocate to a new campus in Givat Ram in western Jerusalem, which was completed in 1953. A few years later, together with the Hadassah Medical Organization, a medical science campus was built in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ein Kerem in southwest Jerusalem.

By the beginning of 1967, the students numbered 12,500, spread among the two campuses in Jerusalem and the agricultural faculty in Rehovot.

After the reunification of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of June 1967, the University was able to return to its original campus in Mount Scopus, which had to be reconstructed. In 1981 the construction work was completed, and the Mount Scopus campus again became the main campus of the University.

The university was again touched by conflict on July 31, 2002, when a Palestinian construction worker (a resident of East Jerusalem) exploded a bomb in the university's crowded "Frank Sinatra" cafeteria during lunch time. Nine people — five Israeli citizens, three American citizens, and one citizen of both France and the United States — were killed by the explosion and many more injured. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. World leaders including Kofi Annan, President Bush, and the President of the European Union issued statements of condemnation.[1][2]

Libraries

The Jewish National and University Library is the central and largest library of Hebrew University and one of the most impressive book and manuscript collections in the world. It is also the oldest section of the university. Founded in 1892 as a world center for the preservation of books relating to Jewish thought and culture, it assumed the additional functions of a general university library in 1920. Its collections of Hebraica and Judaica are the largest in the world. It houses all materials published in Israel, and attempts to acquire all materials published in the world related to the country. It possesses over 5 million books and thousands of items in special sections, many of which are unique. Among these are the Albert Einstein Archives, Hebrew manuscripts department, Eran Laor map collection, Edelstein science collection, Gershom Scholem collection, and a unique collection of Maimonides' manuscripts and early writings. These culturally rich repositories are a destination for tourists, along with the university's students.

In addition to the National Library, Hebrew University has numerous subject-related libraries throughout its campuses. They include the following:

Avraham Harman Science Library, Givat Ram; Mathematics and Computer Science Library, Givat Ram; Earth Sciences Library, Givat Ram; Library for Humanities and Social Sciences, Mt. Scopus; Bernard G. Segal Law Library Center, Mt. Scopus; Library of Archaeology, Mt. Scopus; Moses Leavitt Library of Social Work, Mt. Scopus; Zalman Aranne Central Education Library, Mt. Scopus; Library of the Rothberg International School, Mt. Scopus; Muriel and Philip I. Berman National Medical Library, Ein Kerem; Central Library of Agricultural Science, Rehovot; Roberta and Stanley Bogen Library of The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Mt. Scopus

Campuses

As of 2003, the University has four campuses - three within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries and one in Rehovot - and nearly 23,000 students.

Mount Scopus

Mount Scopus (Hebrew: Har HaTzofim הר הצופים), in the eastern part of Jerusalem, is home to the Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Human Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business Administration, Rothberg International School, Frank Sinatra International Student Center, Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, The Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies and the newly established School of Public Policy.

Givat Ram (Edmond Safra)

The Givat Ram campus, named for Edmond Safra, contains the scientific departments, as well as The Jewish National and University Library.

Ein Kerem

The Ein Kerem campus is located in the same complex as the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital. Although the primary focus of the campus is the medical and dental departments of the university, the molecular biology department also finds its home there.

Rehovot

The Faculty of Agriculture and the Veterinary School are located in the city of Rehovot.

Distinguished faculty

• Louis Guttman, social scientist and statistician
• Michael O. Rabin, computer scientist and mathematician, 1976 Turing Award recipient
• Avi Wigderson, computer scientist and mathematician
• Daniel Kahneman, 2002 Nobel Prize laureate for Economics
• Robert Aumann, 2005 Nobel Prize laureate for Economics
• Ephraim Halevy, former Director General of Mossad
• Aharon Katzir, chemist
• Gershom Scholem, professor of Jewish mysticism
• Martin Buber, professor of religion
• Hayim Tadmor, professor of assyriology
• Adolf Abraham Halevi Fraenkel, mathematician
• Giulio Racah, physicist
• S. Yizhar, Israeli poet who served as Professor of Education
• Yehuda Bauer, historian of the holocaust
• Jacob Talmon, historian
• Amos Tversky, psychologist
• Zeev Sternhell, Professor of political science
• Ruth Lawrence, mathematician
• Yehoshua Bar-Hillel, linguist
• George Mosse, historian
• David Asheri, classical scholar
• Saharon Shelah, mathematician
• Nurit Peled-Elhanan, education
• Mordechai Nisan, social scientist
• Aharon Barak, professor of law and former President of the Supreme Court
• Eliezer Schweid, profesor of Jewish philosophy
• Ehud Netzer, archaeologist
• Joshua Prawer, historian
• Yeshayahu Leibowitz, public figure and biochemist
• Shmuel Eisenstadt, sociologist

Alumni

In 2004, three graduates of the University received the Nobel Prize (David Gross in physics; Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko in chemistry).

• Presidents of Israel: Moshe Katsav, Yitzhak Navon
• Prime Ministers of Israel: Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert
• Deputy Prime Minister of Israel: Yigael Yadin
• Members of the Knesset: Colette Avital, Dalia Itzik, Roman Bronfman
• Sports and culture: Yochanan Vollach, Natalie Portman
• Archaeologists: Amihai Mazar, Eilat Mazar, Yigael Yadin
• Activists: Yael Dayan, Elie Yossef
• Journalists: Khaled Abu Toameh
• Writers: Aharon Appelfeld, Elias Chacour, Yael Dayan, David Grossman, Batya Gur, Shifra Horn, Amos Oz, A. B. Yehoshua, Amnon Jackont, Amalia Kahana-Carmon, Yehoshua Kenaz.
• Academics: Ahron Bregman, Uri Davis, Gerson Goldhaber, Haim Harari, Joshua Jortner, Alexander Levitzki, Efraim Karsh, Asa Kasher, Walter Laqueur, Avishai Margalit, Miri Rubin

Notes

1. ^ Newsweek International. The Complete List: The Top 100 Global Universities. August 13, 2006, Available: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14321230/
2. ^ Academic Ranking of World Universities. Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2006. Available: http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2006/ARWU2006_Top100.htm]

See also

• List of universities in Israel
• Einstein Papers Project
• Category:Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
• Category:Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty

External links

• Hebrew University web site
• The Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies web site
• Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University
• Hebrew University Technology Transfer company - An article
• The British Friends of The Hebrew University (BFHU)
• Hamekasher Jerusalem - a nostalgic website dedicated to a bus company that served the university

Universities in Israel
Bar-Ilan University | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev | Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Open University of Israel | Technion - Israel Institute of Technology | Tel Aviv University | University of Haifa | Weizmann Institute of Science

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