Israel Academy of Sciences inducts six life members, including two women

According to a 1961 law, academy members are to promote and advance Israeli science and as a body serve as advisers on science to the government.

By JUDY SIEGEL
Science 370 (photo credit: Ofira Shterenbeg/Tel Aviv University)
Science 370
(photo credit: Ofira Shterenbeg/Tel Aviv University)
Six eminent scientists were inducted into the Israel Academy of Sciences in a ceremony at its Jerusalem headquarters on Tuesday. The ceremony was presided over by its president, Prof. Ruth Arnon; two of the six members were women.
According to a 1961 law, academy members are to promote and advance Israeli science and as a body serve as advisers on science to the government.
The new members are: Prof. Ruth Berman, an emeritus professor in the field of linguistics and the grammar and lexicon of modern Hebrew.
Prof. Daniel Weihs, a leading researcher in the field of aerodynamics and air flow, space science and practical mathematics. He found solutions to the threat of extinction of the dolphins, the roaming of birds and fish and movement of water spurts and sprays.
Prof. Yaron Silberberg, an expert in complex systems at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. He has conducted major research into the interaction of light and material in ultra-fast optics, quantum optics and non-linear optics.
Prof. emeritus Shlomit Ramon-Kenan, an internationally renowned expert in English literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Prof. David Schmeidler, an economist at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center and an emeritus professor at Tel Aviv University. He has won numerous awards including an honorary doctorate from Torino University in Italy.
Prof. Emeritus Amnon Aharoni, one of the leading experts in statistical physics and has contributed to the understanding of critical behavior of materials, the behavior of fractals and the use of quantum calculations for use in nanotechnology.