2015 Honorary Fellowship Recipients
William F. Cohen
William F. Cohen is the CEO of Dillon Yarn Corp., Chairman and CEO of Atlas Oral Health Care, Chairman and CEO of Arctic Ease, partner in Fabricated Metals and Commodore Factors, President of Morristown Helicopter Services Inc., and is on the Board of Directors of Energy Focus Inc. He is a second-generation member of the Tel Aviv University Board of Governors, following in the footsteps of his late father, B.I. Cohen, and served as Chairman of the American Friends Association from 2008-2011. He is a long-time supporter of scholarships at the University, a reflection of his profound belief in the power of education. Mr. Cohen attended the Baldwin School in New York and Long Island University. He is an instrumentrated commercial helicopter and airplane pilot. He lives in NYC with his wife, Anne Brigitte Cohen. They have two sons, Max and Julien.
Executive Directors of the Iron Dome Air Defense System
Iron Dome is a revolutionary mobile air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aircraft Industries, under the direction of Daniel Gold, Eyal Shapira, Natan Barak and Yossi Drucker. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets, missiles and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) to 70 kilometers (43 mi) away and whose trajectory would take them to populated areas. Iron Dome was declared operational and initially deployed in March 2011 near Beersheba, making its first interception of a Grad rocket launched from Gaza a month later. Since then, Iron Dome has become Israel’s unequivocal defensive game-changer, saving countless Israeli lives. The incredible power of Iron Dome was most recently witnessed during Operation Protective Edge last summer, when the system achieved a 90% interception rate.
Daniel Gold
Known as the “father of Iron Dome,” Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr. Daniel Gold is the CEO and founder of Gold R&D Technology and Innovation Ltd., and Head of the Israel National Committee for Commercial/Civilian Cyber R&D. Gold served as Head of R&D at the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) and the Israel Defense Forces, holding several division head positions within IMOD and the Israel Air Force. Under Gold’s leadership, the IDF R&D unit was awarded the Israel Defense Prize seven times, and he himself received the Israel Defense Prize in 2012 for initiating and spearheading Iron Dome. Dr. Gold was selected as one of the 12 torchbearers at the 2015 Israeli Independence Day celebrations. He completed two doctoral degrees at Tel Aviv University: a PhD in electrical engineering and a PhD in business management.
Natan Barak
Natan Barak is founder and CEO of mPrest Systems and head of the Command & Control System of Iron Dome. Barak retired from the Israeli Navy in 2003 at the rank of Colonel, having established and later headed the C4I Division (Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence), as well as led software development for operational combat systems. A recipient of the Israel Defense Prize, the Admiral’s Innovation Award and the IDF Chief of Staff Award, Barak holds a BSc in electrical engineering, an MA in business administration and an MA in political science, and is a graduate of the Israeli Academy of National Security.
Yosi Drucker
Yosi Druker is Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Air Superiority Systems Division at Rafael. Trained as an electrical engineer at Ben Gurion University, Druker joined Rafael in 1977 and filled a number of roles before being appointed to his current position. He has vast experience in the development and management of advanced weapons systems, including hardware and software development, operations research, aircraft integration and systems engineering. He was awarded the Israel Defense Prize in 2012 for his role in inventing and managing Iron Dome.
Eyal Shapira
Eyal Shapira is Director of Air Surveillance and C-RAM at ELTA Systems, a daughter company of Israel Aerospace Industries. He is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the IDF and a reserve Battalion Commander in Israel’s Northern Command. After gaining his degree in electrical engineering and computer studies at Ben Gurion University, 
Shapira began work as an integrated systems engineer at ELTA Systems, and was quickly promoted to chief engineer and manager of the Iron Dome radar system. He has received several awards, among them the 2012 Israel Defense Prize for his role in Iron Dome, and was featured as one of the 40 Most Promising Young Businesspeople in 2014 by Globes.
The Israeli Opera, directed by Hanna Munitz
Since its establishment in 1985, the Israeli Opera has served as a world-class international opera house. Led by Hanna Munitz, it has transformed opera into an accessible art form and today has some 18,000 subscribers. Over the years, the Israeli Opera has won extensive recognition, attracting superstars such as director Franco Zeffirelli and other world-renowned figures to perform and collaborate with it. The Israeli Opera’s international standing grew significantly in 2010 when it conceived and staged an opera festival at the foot of Masada. Today, it is one of the world’s leading open-air opera festivals, with over 160,000 visitors including 10,000 from overseas. Hanna Munitz joined the Israeli Opera at its inception in 1985 and was appointed General Director in 1995. Prior to that, she was director of marketing, public relations and special projects at the Cameri Theater of Tel Aviv. Munitz is a TAU alumna in philosophy, theater studies and law, and a recipient of several accolades, among them Commendatore in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2011.
