BGU dean to receive OBE from Queen Elizabeth

He is being recognized for his contribution to higher education and academic relations between Israel and Britain.

By DANIELLE ZIRI
David Newman, dean of Humanities at BGY speaks 52 (photo credit: Courtesy British Council)
David Newman, dean of Humanities at BGY speaks 52
(photo credit: Courtesy British Council)
Queen Elizabeth II will award Prof. David Newman, dean of the Faculty of the Humanities and Social Sciences at Ben-Gurion University in the Negev, on Thursday with the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
He is being recognized for his contribution to higher education and academic relations between Israel and Britain.
Newman, a UK native, studied at the Universities of London and Durham. He has been living in Israel since 1982 and has worked at BGU since 1987.
He writes a weekly column for The Jerusalem Post. In 1997, he participated in the founding of the department of politics and government at the university and was appointed to his current position some three years ago.
Newman has been very active in the battle against the international academic boycott of Israel.
“It is a great honor for me to receive this title,” he said in a statement. “Promoting scientific partnerships between Israel and the UK is a matter of great importance which proves that science crosses the boundaries of the conflict.
“Scientific cooperation serves all of humanity and does not differentiate between people because of ethnic, national or religious traits,” he continued.
Newman said he is “particularly pleased” that the title was awarded in the field of the humanities and social sciences, which he views as “an important area of scientific and philosophical discourse, which complements exact sciences and medicine.”
British Ambassador Matthew Gould congratulated Newman and called him “one of the most important and powerful voices in the academic relations between Britain and Israel.”