Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities to expand to 120 members

Academy president Prof. Nili Cohen – a distinguished lawyer and former rector of Tel Aviv University – said on Monday that the new members will strengthen the institution.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
The Hebrew University (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Hebrew University
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Six new senior researchers and scientists have been elected to the ranks of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
Academy president Prof. Nili Cohen – a distinguished lawyer and former rector of Tel Aviv University – said on Monday that the new members will strengthen the institution, which will now have 120 members, and will help the academy achieve its national and international goals and develop Israel’s broad scientific activities in coming years.
The academy, which officially advises government bodies on science, is divided into humanities/ social sciences and natural/exact sciences divisions. It promotes scientific education in Israel as well as ties with countries, institutions and individuals abroad.
The new members are: Prof. (emeritus) Yisrael Bartal, an expert in Jewish history and contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Prof. (emeritus) Naama Goren-Inbar, an archeology expert at the Hebrew U.; Prof. Bilha (Billi) Melman of the Tel Aviv University History Department; Prof. Jacob Klein of the Weizmann Institute of Science Department of Materials and Interfaces in Rehovot; Hebrew University mathematics Prof. Gil Kalai; and Sheba Medical Center hematologist and oncologist Prof. Gideon Rechavi.
The official ceremony will be held at the academy near the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday, during which the new members will give lectures on their work.
A feature interview on the academy with Cohen will appear on Sunday’s Science & Health page.