2007 Honorary Doctorate Recipients
Miriam Adelson
Miriam Adelson earned her BSc in microbiology and genetics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before pursuing medical studies at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, where she graduated with an MD magna cum laude. Today a dedicated researcher-physician, Dr. Adelson specializes in internal and emergency medicine and is a former head physician in each of these areas at the Rokach (Hadassah) Hospital in Tel Aviv. Since 1986, she has devoted her time to researching and treating drug abuse and the biology of addiction, including establishing two drug clinics in the US and Israel. Dr. Adelson and her husband Sheldon G. Adelson are well-known in the philanthropic world for their extensive support of Jewish and other causes throughout the US and Israel.
Alfred Akirov
Alfred Akirov is the founder, chairman and CEO of Alrov Group, one of Israel’s largest and most prestigious real-estate companies. The company develops, constructs and manages a diverse range of properties throughout Israel and in Europe, including residential towers, office buildings, shopping centers and luxury hotels. Mr. Akirov has a number of private business pursuits and is engaged in a variety of public activities. He is President of the Israeli Friends of Tel Aviv University and a member of both the TAU Executive Council and Board of Governors. Born in Iraq, Akirov immigrated to Israel in 1953 at the age of 12.
Aharon Appelfeld
Born in 1932 in Chernovitz, Romania, Aharon Appelfeld is one of the world’s leading authors, with his works translated into 26 languages. He lost his parents in the Holocaust and spent three years hiding from the Nazis before his liberation by the Russian army in 1945. He arrived in Palestine in 1946. Appelfeld began studying Hebrew and Yiddish literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1952, the same year that marked the beginning of his career as a published poet, writer and author. A professor emeritus of Ben Gurion University, he has held guest professorships at the world’s leading universities, including Yale, Harvard and Oxford. His numerous accolades include the Israel Prize, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Award for Literature and the Anne Frank Award (twice).
Fred Chaoul
Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1937, Fred Chaoul and his family moved to Palestine to escape the Holocaust. With the birth of the State of Israel, his father Marko became head of the Leather Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, before moving his family back to Europe and later to Argentina in 1961. Professionally, Mr. Chaoul followed in his father’s footsteps. Today, his company FONSECA is one of the world’s foremost leather manufacturers, and is well known for its local social responsibility programs. Mr. Chaoul is active in Argentina’s Jewish community, particularly in promoting Jewish education, and is a longstanding benefactor of Jewish organizations in Argentina and Israel.
Alain Finkielkraut
French intellectual, academic and author Alain Finkielkraut was born in Paris, France, in 1949, the only son of a Polish Jew who was deported to Auschwitz. A graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Saint-Cloud, Prof. Finkielkraut received his agrégation – a teaching credential for higher education – in French language and literature. He is a prolific writer and outspoken philosopher whose controversial views on modern culture and politics have made him one of the most pivotal figures in the French public arena. Prof. Finkielkraut is a teacher of culture and the history of ideas at the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, and a radio host on France-Culture and Jewish Community Radio. He has published dozens of books, articles and essays.
Richard M. Karp
Internationally renowned as a pioneer in algorithmic research for the past 40 years, Richard Karp earned his doctorate at Harvard in 1959. Since then, he has dedicated his life to researching and teaching theoretical computer science, and is currently Senior Research Scientist at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, California. Prof. Karp is an engaged scientific leader who serves on a number of US national advisory committees, editorial boards and review panels. He is the recipient of many accolades in his field, including the Turing Award, the US National Medal of Science and the Centennial Medal from Harvard University, as well as eight honorary doctorates.
Mary Jeanne Kreek
Mary Jeanne Kreek is one of the world’s leading scientists in the field of drug addiction, as well as a teacher and mentor who has trained researchers from around the world. Prof. Kreek gained her bachelor’s degree at Wellesley College before earning her MD at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and completing her post-graduate research at Cornell University–New York Hospital Medical Center. She joined Rockefeller University in 1964, where she remains to this day, simultaneously continuing her clinical work at the Rockefeller University Hospital. She is renowned for her part in pioneering the methadone maintenance treatment for heroin and opiate addicts, and has over 400 publications in her field.
Dov Lautman
Dov Lautman is one of Israel’s best-loved and most dedicated business leaders, public figures and philanthropists. He is founder and CEO of Delta Textiles, a global conglomerate with 13,500 employees and export ties with the US and Europe, and served as President of the Manufacturers Association of Israel from 1986 to 1993. Mr. Lautman is highly active in promoting social justice, educational equality and Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel, as well as in advancing Middle East peace based on economic and industrial interests. He currently serves as Chairman of Tel Aviv University’s Executive Council, and has held numerous other public leadership positions in Israel. He received the Israel Prize for 2007 and an OBE from the United Kingdom, among other awards for his life’s work.
Peter Schäfer
Peter Schäfer is considered one of the world’s leading scholars and teachers of Jewish studies, a field he tirelessly promotes among young researchers in countries across the globe. Prof. Schäfer has been the Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Jewish Studies at Princeton University since 1998, and spent over 20 years at the Free University of Berlin, where he was Director of the Institut für Judaistik. Born in Hückeswagen, Germany, Prof. Schäfer gained his BA at the University of Bonn, his MA at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his DPhil from the University of Freiburg in 1968. He has held visiting professorships at Oxford, Yale, the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, and Tel Aviv University, among other institutions. In 1994, he was awarded the Leibniz Prize, Germany’s most prestigious academic and scientific award. He has published extensively, and has been a member of the World Union of Jewish Studies since 1965.
Judge Barbara Seal
An engaged leader in Canada’s Jewish community, Barbara Seal has served as National President of the Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University since 1987. She has been a judge at the Canadian Citizenship Court since 1997, and was Municipal Councillor of the City of Hampstead from 1980 through 2001. Judge Seal has dedicated much of her life to advancing social welfare, medical and cultural causes, for which she has received numerous accolades, including the Order of Canada. She championed a twin cities project between Montreal and four Israeli cities – Kiryat Shmona, Petach Tikva, Holon and Ashkelon – and chaired the 11th Congress of the World Twinning Association in Montreal.
Joel D. Tauber
A national figure in the American Jewish community for over 40 years, Joel Tauber is a successful business executive and committed philanthropist. Education has been an area particularly close to his heart, not only within the Jewish community but also at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, where he earned his BA, JD and MBA degrees. He is a major supporter of Israel, both in business and charitable initiatives, and was present when 14,000 Ethiopians arrived in Israel in 1991 during Operation Solomon. Mr. Tauber is Vice President of United Way Community Services, former Chairman of the Executive Committee of the UJC, and Co-Chairman of the Greater Detroit Interfaith Roundtable of Christians, Jews and Moslems, among many other leadership roles. He was National Chairman of the Tel Aviv University American Council from 2002 to 2006.
Leslie H. Wexner
Leslie Wexner, founder and CEO of the Limited Brands Corporation, is one of America’s most prominent industrialists, civic leaders and philanthropists. In 1984, he founded the Wexner Foundation, which has invested considerable resources in developing young Jewish leadership in the United States and Israel, as well as in numerous other Jewish community, cultural, health and educational initiatives. He is a major benefactor of the Wexner Center for the Arts, and serves on the Board of Trustees of Ohio State University and as Honorary Vice Chairman of the Board of Congregation Agudas Achim in Bexley, Ohio.
