Azrieli Foundation donates $21 million to Technion for new Tel Aviv campus

Contribution to also create new MBA track with expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship at Technion.

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
New Technion campus in the Sarona compound in Tel Aviv. (photo credit: DOR AHARON, TECHNION SPOKESMAN)
New Technion campus in the Sarona compound in Tel Aviv.
(photo credit: DOR AHARON, TECHNION SPOKESMAN)
The Azrieli Foundation announced a donation of $21 million for the development of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology’s Continuing Education and External Studies.
The new division will be housed at the Sarona compound in north Tel Aviv and is to be named after David Azrieli, the Canadian-Israeli real estate tycoon. The donation will also create an MBA track focusing on expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Cooperation with the Technion that has been ongoing for decades, highlights the importance of supporting higher education and education in Israel,” Azrieli said on Monday.
“Opening a Technion campus in Tel Aviv will allow for the expansion and strengthening of entrepreneurship and innovation studies, and emphasizes our commitment to the growth of the next generation which will influence the design of the State of Israel,” he added.
The Division of Continuing Education and External Studies has been operating in the Central region since 1958.
The new campus will be located in the preservation and restoration project of the former Templer Colony in Tel Aviv and will consist of three buildings covering an area of some 1,800 square meters.
Last July, the unit moved to its new location in the Sarona compound where some 500 students in the fields of engineering and science have been studying in some of the 16 planned innovative classrooms.
In recent years, the Azrieli Foundation has contributed a great deal to the Technion and specifically to the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning. The foundation has been instrumental in providing support for research and for the advancement of students and young researchers.
For decades, David Azrieli, who holds an honorary doctorate from the Technion and serves as a member of the Board of Governors, occupied a series of leadership roles in the Canadian Technion Society and served as its honorary president.
“In September 1942, David Azriel arrived in Israel, and in September 1943, he was accepted to the Technion.
Since then he has continued his close relationship with the Technion. David Azrieli’s contributions to the state of Israel and to the Technion in particular are enormous. Thousands of engineers and architects are working in the country today thanks to his support.
It is difficult to look at the economy of Israel without his tremendous efforts,” said Prof. Peretz Lavie, president of the Technion.
In the past decade, the foundation has developed and operated programs promoting excellence in higher education and in schools across the country, including to preventing pupils from dropping out of school.