2009 Honorary Fellowship Recipients

Aharon Doron

Aharon Doron has spent most of his life in the service of Israel. Born in Germany, he immigrated to Israel in 1939 as part of the Youth Aliyah program and later became an instructor in the Haganah. With the birth of the State, Doron became an IDF officer, rising in the ranks to become Commander of the Nahal and later of the Golani Brigade, and head of the Manpower Branch at the IDF general headquarters. In 1966 he retired from the IDF with the rank of Major General, joined Tel Aviv University as its first director-general, and later served as TAU deputy president. Doron was virtually singlehandedly responsible for handling the University’s finances, drawing in its first benefactors, and advancing the physical infrastructure of the campus. Doron later worked for the Jewish Agency and the Diaspora Museum, and in 1992 he rejoined the IDF to serve as Ombudsman until his retirement in 1998.

Tom Mandel

Businessman and philanthropist Tom Mandel was born in the Russian Crimea and emigrated to Australia with his family at the age of five. He saw active duty in the Far East during World War II and, upon demobilization, qualified as a teacher at the University of Melbourne. He later moved to the commercial world, joining a multinational manufacturing group where he remained until his retirement in the 1980s. In 1954, Mandel set up an Israeli branch of the group, and moved his family to the UK to oversee all the group’s European operations, before eventually returning to Australia. Since retiring, Mandel has served as a strategic and financial consultant to commercial and community organizations, as well as expanded his charitable activities in Israel and around the world.

David Meller

Outgoing chairman of the Tel Aviv University Trust in Great Britain, David Meller is a prominent businessman and community leader. Meller began his career at Marks and Spencer before joining his family’s business, Julius A. Meller Holdings Plc, in 1979. In 1984, Meller and his brother Michael took over and expanded the company to incorporate additional divisions, and today he serves as joint chairman of the company. Meller is involved in several community-oriented organizations in the UK, and is chairman of the Young President’s Organization of London, a business development organization for business-people under the age of 40. He served as Vice Chairman of Watford Football Club from 1997 to 2006.