Weizmann Institute of Science

Weizmann Institute of Science
מכון ויצמן למדע
Established	1933
Type	Public
President	Prof. Daniel Zajfman
Location	Rehovot, Israel
Website	http://www.weizmann.ac.il/

Koffler accelerator at night

The Weizmann Institute of Science (Hebrew: מכון ויצמן למדע‎ Machon Weizmann LeMada), known as Machon Weizmann is a university and research institute in Rehovot, Israel. It differs from other Israeli universities in that it offers only graduate and post-graduate studies in the sciences.

History

Founded in 1933 by Chaim Weizmann as the Daniel Sieff Research Institute, it was renamed the Weizmann Institute of Science in his honor on November 2, 1949. Before he became President of the State of Israel, Weizmann pursued his research in organic chemistry at its laboratories. The Weizmann Institute presently has about 2,500 students, staff, and faculty, and awards M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, biological chemistry and biology, as well as several interdisciplinary programs.^[1]

Youth programs

In addition to its academic programs, the Weizmann Institute runs programs for youth, including science clubs, camps and competitions. The Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute accepts high school graduates from all over the world for a four-week science-based summer camp. The Clore Garden of Science, which opened in 1999, is the world’s first completely interactive outdoor science museum.^[1][2]

Awards

In 1996 and 2002 respectively, two Weizmann Institute researchers - Amir Pnueli and Adi Shamir - won the Turing Award^[3][4].

Ada Yonath won the Wolf Prize for Chemistry in 2006 and the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009. Several faculty have been awarded Wolf Prizes in Medicine, including Leo Sachs (1980), Meir Wilchek (1987), and Michael Sela and Ruth Arnon (shared, 1998).

Distinguished faculty

• Oded Goldreich, computer scientist
• Haim Harari, theoretical physicist
• Ephraim Katzir, biophysicist, fourth President of the State of Israel
• Harry J. Lipkin, physicist
• Mordehai Milgrom, physicist
• Amir Pnueli, computer scientist, Turing Award (1996)
• Adi Shamir, cryptographer
• Igal Talmi, physicist
• Chaim Weizmann, chemist, first President of the State of Israel
• Ada Yonath, crystallographer, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2009)

Presidents

• Chaim Weizmann (1949-1952; 1934-1952 if predecessor Daniel Sieff Institute included)
• Meyer Weisgal (1952-1959, as "Head of the Executive Council")
• Abba Eban (1959-1966)
• Meyer Weisgal (1966-1969, as President)
• Albert Sabin (1969-1972)
• Israel Dostrovsky (1972-1975)
• Michael Sela (1975-1985)
• Aryeh Dvoretzky (1985-1988)
• Haim Harari (1988-2001)
• Ilan Chet (2002-2006)
• Daniel Zajfman (2006-present)

Past officers of the Weizmann Institute

See also

• List of universities in Israel
• Science and technology in Israel

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Weizmann Institute of Science

• Weizmann Institute of Science Website (English)
• The Institute's scientific activities (English)
• American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (English)

Coordinates: 31°54′27″N 34°48′33″E / 31.9075°N 34.80917°E / 31.9075; 34.80917

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