Martin Kramer has been chosen by the Board of the Shalem Center to serve as founding president of Shalem College, the institution announced in a press statement Monday night. Kramer was chosen for being a "scholar possessing an outstanding academic reputation in Israel and abroad; the ability to articulate the vision of Shalem College in a clear and compelling manner; and the proven leadership abilities to bring this bold new venture to fruition." Kramer had previously been a professor in Middle East Studies at Tel Aviv University, where he also headed the prestigious Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. He has also been a visiting scholar at Harvard, Cornell, and Brandeis Universities, and has a long-time affiliation with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Before being appointed to head Shalem Center, Kramer was a Senior Fellow at our Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies. Kramer's appointment is seen as "a significant step towards launching Shalem College," a higher-learning institute in the spirit of the Center. The Jerusalem Post published an interview with him last week, in which he spoke of his vision for the college.