Wiesel and Whitman among notable American recipients of TAU's highest honor

Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel and investment advisor Martin J. Whitman were among the eleven recipients of Tel Aviv University’s 2008 honorary doctorate degrees, awarded in Tel Aviv on May 17 by the university’s Board of Governors.

Wiesel and Whitman were two of four Americans to be so honored. The other American recipients of the group were Prof. Hilary Putman, a philosopher and professor emeritus from Harvard University, and geneticist Prof. Mary-Claire King. Santiago Calatrava, an architect with several major projects underway in the U.S., was also awarded an honorary degree.

International honorees included Israeli actress Lea Koenig-Stolper and Swiss philanthropist Francis C. Minkoff. Other 2008 honorary doctorate recipients were John J. Landerer CBE AM and Alan Selwyn of Australia, Yehiel Ben-Zvi of Israel, and Sruel Prajs of Germany.

“We are in the company of the greatest creators from all corners of the earth,” TAU President Zvi Galil said during his introduction of the recipients. “These degrees are emblems of our gratitude.” Galil acknowledged not only the honorees’ extensive contributions to society but also their “readiness to interweave [their] destiny with Israel’s.”

Galil acknowledged the recent 60th anniversary of the birth of the state of Israel and spoke of the importance of higher education to ensure Israel’s future for the next 60 years and beyond. “Israel, the land we love,” he said, “is stronger than all our faults.”

The international origins of the recipients underscored the university’s commitment to the globalization of education.

Martin J. Whitman was honored for his and his wife Lois’ belief in the power of educational opportunities for disadvantaged and minority groups. Their recent establishment of the Lois and Martin Whitman Fund at TAU is specifically designated for needy Arab students.

With plain-spoken candor, Whitman said of the fund, “I don’t really know that Israel will enjoy great benefits from trying to uplift Arabs through education. But I do know that those who want to make them second-class citizens are wrong.” The new fund is an extension of the Whitmans’ philanthropic vision. Earlier, they established a similar endowment for African-American and Latino students at Syracuse University, Whitman’s alma mater.

TAU Board Chairman Robert Goldberg said, “This is the most inspiring of occasions. … The honorary degree is the highest award at Tel Aviv University, and each of these eleven have their own story. Tonight is a chance to witness their excellence firsthand.”

Speaking for all the honorary degree recipients, Prof. Putnam remembered his first encounter with TAU’s School of Philosophy in the 1980s. He recalled the “intellectual excitement in the department,” and was impressed by the “thirst for knowledge of the students.” “This is no ordinary honor,” he said, thanking the university for the honorary degree.

TAU’s Student Union Choir also performed at the ceremony, which was held at the university’s Smolarz Auditorium following graduation exercises for the university as a whole.

BIOGRAPHIES OF HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS

John Landerer was born in Czechoslovakia and emigrated to Australia as a child in 1951. A law graduate of Sydney University, he is a senior legal practitioner who has specialized in corporate and commercial advisory work for over 30 years, and has served on the boards of some of Australia’s largest public and private companies. A strong advocate of higher education, he is – among other roles – an Honorary Fellow of Sydney University and a Visiting Professor at Macquarie University, and has supported numerous projects at these and other institutions of higher learning. For his endeavors, Mr. Landerer has been named a Member of the Order of Australia and a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He is President of the New South Wales chapter of the Australian Friends of Tel Aviv University, and Vice Chairman of the Tel Aviv University Board of Governors.

Yehiel Ben-Zvi was born in Poland and immigrated to Palestine as a child. A career soldier in the Israel Defense Forces from 1948 to 1972, he served his final tour of duty as deputy military governor of the Gaza Strip and Northern Sinai. He retired at the rank of colonel. During the First Lebanon War, he was recalled to active duty and served as the IDF spokesman in Beirut. Mr. Ben-Zvi joined Tel Aviv University in 1972 and founded the Public Affairs Division. He became TAU Vice President of Public Affairs in 1980, a role in which he served successfully until 2007. Today he continues to serve TAU as Vice President by Special Appointment. He holds a degree in the social sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A professor emeritus of philosophy at Harvard University, Hilary Putnam is best-known for his contributions to the philosophy of mind, language and mathematics. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, before embarking on an academic career that took him to UCLA, Northwestern, Princeton, MIT and Harvard. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, and a former President of the American Philosophical Association. He has published over 20 books and hundreds of articles.

Lea Koenig-Stolper took her first steps toward a stage career as a girl, studying drama at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest, Romania. She was a stage performer at the Jewish State Theater in Bucharest and, after making aliyah, she joined the Habima Theater where she has played leading and supporting roles for 45 years. Ms. Koenig-Stolper participates in fringe theater and television productions, promotes Yiddish culture in Israel and devotes time to animal welfare and other social issues. She has received several accolades, among them the Israel Prize, the Israel Theater Life Achievement Prize and the Rosenblum Prize for Theater.

Born in Switzerland in 1944, businessman, philanthropist and TAU Governor Francis Minkoff has deep Zionist roots that began when his great-grandfather left Russia for Palestine in 1890. Mr. Minkoff’s father, Andre, was born in Jaffa and, after moving to Switzerland, supported numerous scientific and social initiatives in Israel. Francis Minkoff has continued the family tradition. He visits Israel regularly, and has become personally involved with the institutions and projects he supports, among them universities, hospitals, WIZO, the IDF, numerous arts and cultural initiatives and projects in the Negev. He is a central figure in Swiss Jewish community life.

Born in Bialystok, Poland, Alan Selwyn and his family spent most of the Second World War in a Russian detention camp. After being liberated, the family moved to Australia in 1946 and started a textile business. They were instrumental in planning and building a mill in Ashdod, Israel, in the 1960s, of which Mr. Selwyn became Vice Chairman. Today a prominent figure in Australia’s textile industry, Mr. Selwyn is a founder of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, where he is still active, and a supporter of numerous Jewish, medical and social initiatives in Australia and Israel. He is a member and patron of the Victoria (Melbourne) Chapter of the Australian Friends of Tel Aviv University and a TAU Governor.

The works of architect, artist, sculptor and engineer Dr. Santiago Calatrava can be seen throughout the world. Born in Valencia, Spain, Dr. Calatrava gained his architecture degree at the Superior Technical School of Architecture in Valencia, and both his civil engineering degree and technical science PhD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Among his most notable creations are the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York which is still under construction. He has received honorary degrees from 13 universities, as well as numerous honors and accolades including the designation by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Novelist, political activist, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor, Prof. Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Romania, in 1928. In 1940, he was relocated to a nearby ghetto and eventually deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After the war, he was placed in a French orphanage, and in 1948 he began studying philosophy at the Sorbonne. He emigrated to the US in 1955. He has written over 40 books, including Night, which describes his Holocaust experiences. Prof. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for speaking out against violence, repression and racism, as well as many other prizes and honors including the United States Congressional Gold Medal. He served as chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Holocaust and spearheaded the building of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. At Boston University, he teaches religion and philosophy, and is the Andrew Mellon Professor of the Humanities.

Born in Chicago, Prof. Mary-Claire King is one of the world’s leading scientists in the field of human molecular genetics. Since the 1990s, she has been focusing on identifying genes involved in the development of breast cancer at the University of Washington at Seattle. Prof. King is highly active in a broad range of scientific, medical, forensic and human rights initiatives, and serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals such as Science and Nature. She is the American Cancer Society Professor at the University of Washington, an Affiliate Member of the Clinical Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and a member of the American National Academy of Science. She is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees including from NYU, Columbia and Harvard.