2009 Honorary Doctorate Recipients

Lord David Alliance

Lord David Alliance is a prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist in the UK. Born in Iran, he moved to England when he was 17. He was the founder of Coats Viyella, a successful manufacturing firm operating in 67 countries, is Chairman and main shareholder of a direct mail order company, and has businesses in finance and property. He received a CBE in 1984, a knighthood in 1989 and a life peerage in 2004. Lord Alliance has served on numerous public committees and operates the Alliance Family Foundation, which was established to help the needy and advance knowledge of religion, education and medicine. He holds a number of honorary degrees: a Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa from the University of Manchester and from the University of Liverpool, and a Doctor of Science from Heriot-Watt University. He holds an Honorary Fellowship Honoris Causa from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, an Honorary Fellowship of the Shenkar College of Textile Technology & Fashion, and Fellowships from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce and from the City and Guilds of London Institute.

Gila Almagor 

Israel Prize laureate Gila Almagor is one of Israel’s most celebrated actresses, authors, screenwriters and media personalities. In 1963, she went to study at the Lee Strasberg Acting School in New York, and immediately upon her return to Israel embarked upon her professional career as an actress. Almagor has played over fifty major film roles and dozens on the Israeli stage in a broad variety of genres. She has also engaged extensively in charitable causes. She was a founder of the Israeli Union of Performing Artists and has chaired, among other organizations, the Tel Aviv branch of the Israel Cancer Association and the Israeli division of the International Association of Theater for Children and Young People. Her voluntary work has been recognized through various awards, among them the President’s Merit Award for Volunteers.

Miriam Ben-Porat 

Miriam Ben-Porat is one of Israel’s most prominent judges. In 1977 she became the first woman to serve on the Israeli Supreme Court, eventually rising to the role of deputy president. At the same time, she served as a professor of law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she taught and published a number of articles and books that are today canons of Israeli law. After completing her term at the Supreme Court, Ben-Porat was elected by the Knesset as State Comptroller, a role she filled with much success for ten years. She was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement as a testament to her contribution to the State. She continues to engage in research and teaching today.

Manfred Bietak

Born in Vienna, Austria, Professor Manfred Bietak has been a scholar of archaeology for over five decades. He currently serves as Director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Cairo, and Chairman of both the Institute of Egyptology and the Vienna Institute of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Vienna, among many other roles. Prof. Bietak has devoted most of his scientific career to excavating sites in Egypt’s north-eastern delta, revealing the ancient capitals of the Hyksos (Avaris) and of Ramesses II (Pi-Ramesse), both of great importance for understanding the history and culture of ancient Egypt and Canaan. He has been a member of the editorial boards of eight periodicals, including the prestigious Egypt and the Levant.

Mikhail Gromov

Prof. Mikhail Gromov of NYU, recognized as one of the most important mathematicians of our time, was awarded a TAU honorary doctorate in a ceremony held as part of the conference, “The State of Geometry and Functional Analysis,” organized by the Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Mathematical Sciences. Prof. Gromov was honored for his outstanding contribution to the field of geometry as well as his longstanding friendship with the school.

Joseph Hackmey

Joseph Hackmey is a living legend in the Israeli insurance industry, and a benefactor of arts and culture in Israel and worldwide. A fifth-generation Israeli, Hackmey began his insurance career in 1968 with the Israel Phoenix, where he eventually became Managing Director. He has served in a broad range of professional leadership positions, among them Chairman of the Israeli Insurance Association. Since retiring in 2002, Hackmey has devoted his time to charitable causes, most notably sponsoring hundreds of young artists, chess players and musicians. His art collection is considered the most prominent in Israel, and he is renowned for his promotion of modern Israeli art. Hackmey holds degrees in math and electronic engineering from MIT, as well as a post-graduate diploma in actuarial science and business administration from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 

Ron Huldai

Elected for his third term in 2008, Ron Huldai has served as Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo for a decade. During this time he has eliminated the city’s deficit, streamlined its workforce, and improved its infrastructure. Huldai became a combat pilot in the Israel Air Force (IAF) in 1965, performing active duty during the Six Day and Yom Kippur Wars, and later serving as Commander of the Air Force Pilots Training School. He retired from the IAF after 26 years at the rank of Brigadier General. Huldai subsequently followed his parents’ footsteps into education, becoming the principal of the Gymnasia Herzlia, before eventually moving into municipal politics. His own education includes studies in history at Tel Aviv University, continued studies at the American Air War College and advanced management studies at the Wharton Business School.

Charlotte Knobloch

Charlotte Knobloch is an esteemed Jewish community leader in Germany. She is President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Vice President of both the European Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Congress. A tireless advocate of German Jewry, she established the largest Jewish community center in Germany in 2007 after having raised 60 million euros for the project. She holds honorary positions in numerous social organizations – Jewish, German and international. Drawing on her connections with Germany’s state leadership, Knobloch also works to promote German-Israeli cooperative ties.

Marc Rich

Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Marc Rich and his family fled the Nazis and immigrated to the United States, where he went on to found the Marc Rich Company – the largest commodities trading company in the world. Rich’s philanthropy has touched countless lives in Israel, Switzerland, Spain and the former Soviet Union. Over the past three decades, through the Marc Rich Group of Foundations, he has contributed to improving education, culture, the arts, social welfare and healthcare, and to empowering marginalized groups through the development of skills and self-reliance. His foundations have partnered with leading universities and research centers, promoting excellence and supporting fellowships in business, science, health and civil society. They are also involved in groundbreaking projects with cultural and medical institutions, among them cardiology and cancer departments at several major Israeli hospitals, and museums in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Rich has been awarded honorary degrees from leading Israeli institutions.

Moise Yacoub Safra

Moise Safra is a well-known banking and business magnate and Brazilian Jewish community leader. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and educated in London before moving to Brazil in 1955 to join his father in founding a banking enterprise that later became the Safra Group. Together with his brother, Moise Safra jointly controlled the Safra Group until 2006, when he sold his stake. Safra has also had dealings in the textile, agriculture and telecommunications sectors. Together with his wife, Chella, Safra is renowned for his extensive philanthropic giving in Brazil, Israel and around the world. The Safras are also great benefactors of higher education in Israel and of Tel Aviv University, where a building in the planned Student City and a gate to the campus have been dedicated in their name.

Jacob Ziv

Professor Jacob Ziv has garnered dozens of international accolades for his achievements in the fields of electrical engineering and information theory. Among these are the Israel Prize, Israel Defense Prize, and the Marconi, Hamming and Shannon Awards. Prof. Ziv is best known for his breakthrough approach for compressing data, which has been applied around the world. A native of Tiberias, Israel, Prof. Ziv received his BSc and MSc degrees from the Technion, and his PhD from MIT. He served as Head of the Communications Division of Rafael– the Israel Armament Developing Authority – before joining the Technion as a professor. Alongside his scientific work, Prof. Ziv has served in a number of administrative roles on behalf of the Israeli academy, most notably head of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education and President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He currently heads the Telem Forum, a national initiative for research and development of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Israeli government.