The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

based in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Co-founded by

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

and

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...

in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-oldest Israeli university, having been founded 30 years before the

establishment of the State of Israel The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 (5 Iyar 5708), at the end of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war phase and ...

but six years after the older Technion university. The HUJI has three campuses in

: one in

Rehovot Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...

, one in

Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion ( , "First to Zion") is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. Founded in 1882 by Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire who were ...

and one in

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

. Until 2023, the world's largest library for Jewish studies—the

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...

—was located on its Edmond J. Safra campus in the

Givat Ram Givat Ram () is a neighborhood in central Jerusalem. It is the site of Kiryat HaMemshala (Hebrew language, Hebrew: קריית הממשלה, ''lit.'' Government complex), which includes many of Israel's most important national institutions, among t ...

neighbourhood of Jerusalem. The university has five affiliated

teaching hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

s (including the Hadassah Medical Center), seven faculties, more than 100 research centers, and 315 academic departments. , one-third of all the doctoral candidates in Israel were studying at the HUJI. Among its first

board of governors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

were

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

and

Martin Buber Martin Buber (; , ; ; 8 February 1878 – 13 June 1965) was an Austrian-Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I and Thou, I–Thou relationship and the I� ...

. Four of Israel's prime ministers are alumni of the university. , 15

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winners (8 alumni and teachers), two

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...

ists (one alumnus), and three

Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in the fi ...

winners have been affiliated with the HUJI. It is ranked as the 77th best university in the world. Opening ceremony of Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1925

Opening ceremony of Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1925

History

The National Library of Israel building - Amitay Katz

A vision of the

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

movement was the establishment of a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

university in the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

. Founding a university was proposed as far back as 1884 in the Kattowitz (Katowice) conference of the Hovevei Zion society, and by Hermann Schapira at the

First Zionist Congress The First Zionist Congress () was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization (ZO) held in the Stadtcasino Basel in the city of Basel on August 29–31, 1897. Two hundred and eight delegates from 17 countries and 2 ...

of 1897. The

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

for the university was laid on 24 July 1918. Seven years later, on 1 April 1925, the Hebrew University campus on

Mount Scopus Mount Scopus ( ', "Mount of the Watchmen/ Sentinels"; ', lit. "Mount Lookout", or ' "Mount of the Scene/Burial Site", or "Mount Syenite") is a mountain (elevation: above sea level) in northeast Jerusalem. Between the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

was opened at a gala ceremony attended by the leaders of the Jewish world, distinguished scholars and public figures, and British dignitaries, including the Earl of Balfour, Viscount Allenby,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

and Sir Herbert Samuel. The university's first chancellor was Judah Magnes, who led the school as chancellor from 1924 to 1935. In 1935 to 1948 he led the school as president. One of the most controversial issues during the conceptualization of the university regarded its future official language. Whereas one side, the so-called "Germanists", proposed a combination of German and Arabic for all non-Jewish subjects, the other side opted for the general use of Hebrew. The former party was afraid the very recent Modern Hebrew might not yet allow high-level academic discussions since it still suffered from a lack of specific technical terms in non-religious contexts. Although this concern can not simply be dismissed as unreasonable, the representatives of this position underestimated the symbolic significance of Hebrew for many Jews, not least of all for those outside the academia. Therefore, they were not able to prevail in the discussion and had to give in to the decision that the new university would be an explicitly Hebrew one. The question, what would define the specific Hebrew character of the university did not only regard the choice of an official language but also organizational aspects, as for example the establishment of departments and the definition of their respective research areas, and the outline of its overall academic profile. Therefore, in 1919, Shmaryahu Levin inquired a number of prominent Jewish European scholars about their opinions on the subject. One of the respondents was Ignaz Goldziher whose proposals were at least partly implemented: oriental languages, Jewish literature, and archaeology were among the first subjects studied at the university. By 1947, the university had become a large research and teaching institution. Sir Leon Simon was Acting President from 1948 to 1949, and he was succeeded as president by Professor Selig Brodetsky, who served from 1949 to 1952. Plans for a medical school were approved in May 1949, and in November 1949, a faculty of law was inaugurated. In 1952, it was announced that the agricultural institute founded by the university in 1940 would become a full-fledged faculty. During the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, attacks were carried out against convoys moving between the Israeli-controlled section of Jerusalem and the university. The leader of the Arab forces in Jerusalem, Abdul Kader Husseini, threatened military action against the university Hadassah Hospital "if the Jews continued to use them as bases for attacks." After the April 1948 Hadassah medical convoy massacre, in which 79 Jews, including doctors and nurses, were killed, the Mount Scopus campus was cut off from Jerusalem. British soldier Jack Churchill coordinated the evacuation of 700 Jewish doctors, students and patients from the hospital. When the

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian government denied Israeli access to Mount Scopus, a new campus was built at Givat Ram in western Jerusalem and completed in 1958. In the interim, classes were held in 40 different buildings around the city. Benjamin Mazar was President of the university from 1953 to 1961, Giulio Racah was Acting President from 1961 to 1962, and Eliahu Eilat was president from 1962 to 1968. The Terra Santa building in Rehavia, rented from the Franciscan Custodians of the Latin Holy Places, was also used for this purpose. A few years later, together with the Hadassah Medical Organization, a medical science campus was built in the south-west Jerusalem neighborhood of Ein Kerem. By the beginning of 1967, the students numbered 12,500, spread among the two campuses in Jerusalem and the agricultural faculty in

. After the unification of Jerusalem, following the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

of June 1967, the university was able to return to Mount Scopus, which was rebuilt. According to the Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem, Israel confiscated 568

Dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s of land from the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village of Isawiya for the Hebrew University in 1968. In 1981 the construction work was completed, and Mount Scopus again became the main campus of the university. Avraham Harman was President of the university from 1968 to 1983, Don Patinkin from 1983 to 1986, Amnon Pazy from 1986 to 1990,

Yoram Ben-Porat Yoram Ben-Porat (also, Ben-Porath; ; born 1937; died October 18, 1992) was an Israeli academic and economist. He served as president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1990 until his death in 1992 in an automobile accident at the age of 55. ...

from 1990 to 1992, Hanoch Gutfreund from 1992 to 1997, and Menachem Magidor from 1997 to 2009. On 31 July 2002, a member of a terrorist cell detonated a bomb during lunch hour at the university's "Frank Sinatra" cafeteria when it was crowded with staff and students. Nine people—five Israelis, three Americans, and one dual French-American citizen—were murdered and more than 70 wounded. World leaders, including

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, and the EU's High Representative

Javier Solana Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga CYC (; born 14 July 1942) is a Spanish physicist and PSOE politician. After serving in the Spanish government as Foreign Affairs Minister under Felipe González (1992–1995) and as the Secretary Gener ...

issued statements of condemnation. Menachem Ben-Sasson was President of the university from 2009 to 2017, succeeded by Asher Cohen in 2017. In 2017 the Hebrew University of Jerusalem launched a

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

research center, intended to "conduct and coordinate research on cannabis and its biological effects with an eye toward commercial applications."

Campuses

Mount Scopus

(Hebrew: Har HaTzofim הר הצופים), in the north-eastern part of Jerusalem, is home to the main campus, which contains the Faculties of Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, Jerusalem School of Business Administration, Seymour Fox School of Education, Baerwald School of Social Work, Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Rothberg International School, and the Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies. The Rothberg International School features secular studies and Jewish/Israeli studies. Included for foreign students is also a mandatory Ulpan program for Hebrew language study which includes a mandatory course in Israeli culture and customs. All Rothberg Ulpan classes are taught by Israeli natives. However, many other classes at the Rothberg School are taught by Jewish immigrants to Israel. The land on Mt. Scopus was purchased before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

from Sir John Gray-Hill, along with the Gray-Hill mansion. The master plan for the university was designed by Patrick Geddes and his son-in-law,

Frank Mears Sir Frank Charles Mears LLD (11 July 1880 – 25 January 1953) was an architect and Scotland's leading planning consultant from the 1930s to the early 1950s. Life and work Born in Tynemouth he moved to Edinburgh in 1897 when his father, Dr ...

in December 1919. Only two buildings of this original scheme were built: the David Wolffsohn University and National Library, and the Mathematics Institute, with the Physics Institute probably being built to the designs of their Jerusalem-based partner, Benjamin Chaikin. Housing for students at Hebrew University who live on

is located at the three dormitories located near the university. These are the Maiersdorf (מאירסדורף) dormitories, the Bronfman (ברונפמן) dormitories, and the Kfar HaStudentim (כפר הסטודנטים, Student Village). Nearby is the Nicanor Cave, an ancient cave that was planned to be a national pantheon.

Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare

The first

Bachelor of Social Work A bachelor is a man who is not and never has been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

in Israel, the school was founded in 1958. The school was named after Paul Baerwald, a leader of the Jewish Distribution Committee (JDC). The JDC was an initial funder of the school along with the Ministry of Welfare and the Tel Aviv Municipality. A new self-standing building was dedicated on the

university campus in April 1967. The school has been called "the leader in training and research in the fields of social work and social policy." It has been ranked the highest rated school of social work in Israel. The Master of Social Work was introduced in 1970. The school houses the Israel Gerontological Data Center, Nevet- Greenhouse of Context-Informed Research and Training for Children in Need, The Center for the Study of Philanthropy in Israel, The Resilience Research Group.

Edmond J. Safra, Givat Ram

The

campus (renamed after Edmond Safra in 2005) is the home of the Faculty of Science including the Einstein Institute of Mathematics; the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences; the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences; the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies, the Center for the Study of Rationality, as well as the

, (JNUL).

Ein Kerem

The Faculties of Medicine and Dental Medicine and the Institute For Medical Research, Israel-Canada (IMRIC) are located at the south-western Jerusalem Ein Kerem campus alongside the Hadassah-University Medical Center.

Rehovot

The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment and the Koret School of

Veterinary Medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

are located in the city of

in the coastal plain. The Faculty was established in 1942 and the School of Veterinary Medicine opened in 1985. These are the only institutions of higher learning in Israel that offer both teaching and research programs in their respective fields. The Faculty is a member of the Euroleague for Life Sciences. Hebrew University opening Ceremony

Libraries

The Hebrew University libraries and their web catalogs can be accessed through the HUJI Library Authority portal.

Jewish National and University Library

The Jewish National and University Library is the central and largest library of the Hebrew University and one of the most impressive book and manuscript collections in the world. It is also the oldest section of the university. Founded in 1892 as a world center for the preservation of books relating to Jewish thought and culture, it assumed the additional functions of a general university library in 1920. Its collections of Hebraica and Judaica are the largest in the world. It houses all materials published in Israel, and attempts to acquire all materials published in the world related to the country. It possesses over five million books and thousands of items in special sections, many of which are unique. Among these are the Albert Einstein Archives,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

department, Eran Laor map collection, Edelstein science collection, Gershom Scholem collection, and a collection of

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

' manuscripts and early writings. In his will, Albert Einstein left the Hebrew University his personal papers and the copyright to them. The Albert Einstein Archives contain some 55,000 items. In March 2012 the university announced that it had digitised the entire archive, and was planning to make it more accessible online. Included in the collection are his personal notes, love letters to various women, including the woman who would become his second wife, Elsa.

Subject-based libraries

In addition to the National Library, the Hebrew University operates subject-based libraries on its campuses, among them the Avraham Harman Science Library, Safra, Givat Ram; Mathematics and Computer Science Library, Safra, Givat Ram; Earth Sciences Library, Safra, Givat Ram; Muriel and Philip I. Berman National Medical Library, Ein Kerem; Central Library of Agricultural Science, Rehovot; Bloomfield Library for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Mt. Scopus; Bernard G. Segal Law Library Center, Mt. Scopus; Emery and Claire Yass Library of the Institute of Archaeology, Mt. Scopus; Moses Leavitt Library of Social Work, Mt. Scopus; Zalman Aranne Central Education Library, Mt. Scopus; Library of the Rothberg School for International Students, Mt. Scopus; Roberta and Stanley Bogen Library of the

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Mt. Scopus; and the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive.

Rankings

According to the

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

, the Hebrew University is the top university in Israel, overall between 101st and 150th best university in the world, between 301st and 400th in physics, between 201st and 300th in computer science, and between 51st and 75th in business/economics. In 2021, Shanghai Ranking and the Center for World University Rankings ranked the Hebrew University 1st in Israel in its ''World University Rankings'' (90th according to Shanghai Ranking and 64th in the world according to the Center for World University Rankings). The Hebrew University consistently ranks as Israel's best university in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

, and among the best worldwide. It was ranked as the 11th best institution in mathematics worldwide in 2017, 19th best in 2018, 21st best in 2019, and 25th best in 2020.

Friends of the University

The university has an international Society of Friends organizations covering more than 25 countries. Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (CFHU), founded in 1944 by Canadian philanthropist Allan Bronfman, promotes awareness, leadership and financial support for The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. CFHU facilitates academic and research partnerships between Canada and Israel as well as establishing scholarships, supporting research, cultivating student and faculty exchanges and recruiting Canadian students to attend the Rothberg International School. CFHU has chapters in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. The American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU) is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that provides programs, events and fundraising activities in support of the university. It was founded by the American philanthropist, Felix M. Warburg in 1925. Supported by its founder, Stephen Floersheimer, and headed by Eran Razin, ''Floersheimer Studies'' is a singular program, publishing studies in the field of society, governance and space in Israel. It was established in 2007 replacing the ''Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies'' of 1991.

Faculty

Dorit Aharonov Dorit Aharonov (; born 1970) is an Israelis, Israeli computer scientist specializing in quantum computing. Biography Aharonov was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Haifa, the daughter of the mathematician Dov Aharonov and the niece of the p ...

, computer science * Joshua David Angrist, economist, 2021

laureate for Economics * Lydia Aran, scholar of Buddhism * Robert Aumann, 2005

laureate for Economics *

Shlomo Avineri Shlomo Avineri (Hebrew: שלמה אבינרי; born Jerzy Wiener; 20 August 1933 – 30 November 2023) was an Israeli political scientist. He was a professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and member of the Israel A ...

, Political Science * Yishai Bar, law * Yehoshua Bar-Hillel, linguistics * Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, international relations * Aharon Barak, former President of the

Israeli Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

Yehuda Bauer Yehuda Bauer (; 6 April 1926 – 18 October 2024) was a Czech-born Israeli historian and scholar of the The Holocaust, Holocaust. He was a professor of Holocaust studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew Univer ...

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

history * Jacob Bekenstein, physics * Mara Beller, (1945-2004) history and philosophy of science * Norman Bentwich, international relations * Nissim Benvenisty, genetics, the Herbert Cohn Chair in Cancer Research, and Director of the Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences * Ernst David Bergmann, chairman of Israeli Atomic Energy Commission *

, religion & Jewish philosophy * Howard Cedar, chairperson, Developmental Biology & Cancer Research, IMRIC * Ilan Chet, agricultural biotechnology * Richard I. Cohen, history * Avishai Dekel Andre Aisenstadt Chair of Theoretical Physics * Shmuel Eisenstadt, sociology * Menachem Elon, former deputy president of the

* Adolf Abraham Halevi Fraenkel, mathematics * Hillel Furstenberg, mathematics, Israel Prize winner * Leah Goldberg (1911–1970), poet * Eliezer E. Goldschmidt, agriculture * Asher Dan Grunis,

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice * Louis Guttman, social sciences and statistics * Naomi Habib, computational neuroscientist * Ephraim Halevy,

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

chief * Lumír Ondřej Hanuš, analytic chemist * Yuval Noah Harari, history * Gabriel Herman, Historian * Gabriel Horenczyk, psychologist, faculty member of the Melton Centre for Jewish Education and the School of Education. *

Daniel Kahneman Daniel Kahneman (; ; March 5, 1934 – March 27, 2024) was an Israeli-American psychologist best known for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making as well as behavioral economics, for which he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memor ...

, 2002

laureate for Economics * Ruth Kark, geography of (Eretz)

* Elihu Katz, communication * Aharon Katzir, chemistry * David Kazhdan, mathematics * Baruch Kimmerling, sociology * Roger D. Kornberg, visiting professor, 2006

laureate for chemistry * David Kretzmer, law * Ruth Lapidoth, law * Ruth Lawrence, mathematics * Hava Lazarus-Yafeh (1930–1998), Orientalist, head of the Department for Islamic Civilization, Israel Prize winner * Yeshayahu Leibowitz, biochemistry and Jewish philosophy * Raphael D. Levine, chemist * Avigdor Levontin, law * Nehemia Levtzion (1935—2003), scholar of African history, Near East, Islamic, and African studies, President of the

Open University of Israel The Open University of Israel (, ''Ha-Universita ha-Ptuha'') is a distance education, distance-education university in Israel. It is one of ten public universities in Israel recognized by the Council of Higher Education (CHE). Open University ...

, and executive director of the

Van Leer Jerusalem Institute The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute is a center for interdisciplinary study in the humanities and social sciences, and the development of new ways of addressing questions of global concern that hold special importance for Israeli society and the r ...

* Amia Lieblich, psychology * Elon Lindenstrauss, mathematics, laureate of the 2010

* Joram Lindenstrauss, mathematics, Israel Prize winner * Avishai Margalit, philosophy Israel Prize winner * Amihai Mazar, archaeology, Israel Prize winner * Benjamin Mazar. archaeologist, Israel Prize winner, former university president and rector * Jacob (Kobi) Metzer,

economic historian Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of ...

, professor, and the eighth president of the

* Eugen Mittwoch, semitic languages, guest professor in 1924 (famous as head of German Nachrichtenstelle in

) * George Mosse, history * Bezalel Narkiss, art history * Amnon Netzer, Jewish studies and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

* Ehud Netzer (1934–2010), archaeology * Yaakov Nahmias, bioengineering * Anat Ninio, psychology * Mordechai Nisan, education * Dan Pagis, literature * Nurit Peled-Elhanan, education * Tsvi Piran, astrophysics *

Joshua Prawer Joshua Prawer (; November 22, 1917 – April 30, 1990) was a notable Israelis, Israeli historian and a scholar of the Crusades and Kingdom of Jerusalem. His work often attempted to portray Crusader society as a forerunner to later European Colon ...

, history * Michael O. Rabin, computer science and mathematics,

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

winner and recipient of the

. * Giulio Racah, physics * Frances Raday, law * Aharon Razin, Researcher, IMRIC * Eliyahu Rips, mathematics * Mordechai Rotenberg, social work * Gershom Scholem, Jewish mysticism * Eliezer Schweid, Jewish philosophy * Ehud de Shalit, number theorist * Zlil Sela, mathematics * Nir Shaviv, astrophysics *

Saharon Shelah Saharon Shelah (; , ; born July 3, 1945) is an Israeli mathematician. He is a professor of mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Rutgers University in New Jersey. Biography Shelah was born in Jerusalem on July 3, 1945. He is th ...

, mathematics * Avigdor Shinan, Hebrew literature * Avraham Steinberg, medical ethics * Zeev Sternhell, political science * Hayim Tadmor, Assyriology * Jacob Talmon, history * Gadi Taub, social sciences *

Amos Tversky Amos Nathan Tversky (; March 16, 1937 – June 2, 1996) was an Israeli cognitive and mathematical psychologist and a key figure in the discovery of systematic human cognitive bias and handling of risk. Much of his early work concerned th ...

, psychology * Claude Vigée, French literature * Marta Weinstock-Rosin, neuropharmacology, Israel Prize winner *

Avi Wigderson Avi Wigderson (; born 9 September 1956) is an Israeli computer scientist and mathematician. He is the Herbert H. Maass Professor in the school of mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America ...

, computer science and mathematics * Joseph Yahalom, Hebrew poetry * S. Yizhar, writer

Publications

Institute of Archaeology, Mt. Scopus

* ''Qedem: Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology'' * ''Qedem Reports'' * ''Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology'' (JJAR), open-access, peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary journal

Notable alumni

Major award laureates

laureate: Elon Lindenstrauss (2010) *

laureates:

(economics 2002),

David Gross David Jonathan Gross (; born February 19, 1941) is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. Along with Frank Wilczek and David Politzer, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of asymptotic freedom. ...

(physics 2004), Avram Hershko (chemistry 2004), Aaron Ciechanover (chemistry 2004), Robert Aumann (economics 2005), Roger D. Kornberg (chemistry 2006), and Ada Yonath (chemistry 2009) *

laureates: Michael O. Rabin (1976), Richard E. Stearns (1993),

Shafi Goldwasser Shafrira Goldwasser (; born 1959) is an Israeli-American computer scientist. A winner of the Turing Award in 2012, she is the RSA Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; a professor o ...

(2012)

Political leaders

*Ambassador Yael Rubinstein *Members of the Knesset: Colette Avital, Yael Dayan, Taleb el-Sana, Dalia Itzik, Roman Bronfman, David Rotem, Ahmed Tibi,

Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician who served as Ministry of Finance (Israel), Minister of Finance between 2021 and 2022, having previously served twice as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to ...

, Dov Khenin, Danny Danon, Shulamit Aloni, Rachel Adato,

Ze'ev Elkin Ze'ev Elkin (born 3 April 1971) is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a Member of the Knesset for the New Hope (Israel), New Hope Party. He was previously a member of the Knesset for Kadima, Likud and the National Unity (Israel), Nati ...

Roni Bar-On Roni Bar-On (; born 2 June 1948) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud and Kadima between 2003 and 2011, and is also a former Finance Minister of Israel, Minister of Finance. Biography Bar-On was bo ...

, Ze'ev Bielski, Yohanan Plesner, Yuval Steinitz, Dan Meridor, Yisrael Katz, Jamal Zahalka, Shai Hermesh, Zvulun Orlev, Menachem Ben-Sasson, Ya'akov Ne'eman, Geulah Cohen, Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit, Orit Farkash-Hacohen *Jerusalem city council members: Ofer Berkovitch *Presidents of Israel: Ephraim Katzir, Yitzhak Navon, Moshe Katsav, Reuven Rivlin *Prime Ministers of Israel:

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert (; , ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009. The son of a former Herut politician, Olmert was first elected to the Knesset for Likud in 1973, at th ...

, Naftali Bennett *Supreme Court Justices: Aharon Barak, Dorit Beinisch, Menachem Elon, Elyakim Rubinstein, Meir Shamgar, Jacob Turkel, Yitzhak Zamir, Salim Joubran, Uri Shoham *President of Guatemala: Bernardo Arévalo

By profession

*Academics: Emanuel Adler, Michael Albeck,

, Ahron Bregman, Richard I. Cohen, Uri Davis, Amitai Etzioni, Esther Farbstein, Gerson Goldhaber, Daphna Hacker,

Haim Harari use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...

, Jose Itzigsohn, Joshua Jortner, Efraim Karsh, Asa Kasher, Walter Laqueur, Alexander Levitzki, Saul Lieberman, Avishai Margalit, Jacob (Kobi) Metzer, Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Dana Olmert, Neri Oxman, Dana Pe'er, Uriel Reichman, Joshua Ronen, Miri Rubin, Ariel Rubinstein, Eli Salzberger, Amit Schejter, Michael Sela, Igal Talmi, Benjamin Elazari Volcani, Menahem Yaari, Reuven Avi-Yonah, Ada Yonath *Activists: Hamze Awawde, Dorit Reiss, Elie Yossef *Anthropologist: Eliane Karp *Archaeologists:

Ruth Amiran Ruth Amiran (; ; December 8, 1914 – December 14, 2005) was an Israeli archaeologist whose book ''Ancient Pottery of the Holy Land: From Its Beginnings in the Neolithic Period to the End of the Iron Age'' which was published in 1970 is a standa ...

Trude Dothan Trude Dothan (‎; 12 October 1922 – 28 January 2016) was a professor of archaeology at the Hebrew University, who focused on the Late Bronze and Iron Ages in the region, in particular in Philistine culture. Winner of the Israel Prize in Ar ...

, Aren Maeir, Amihai Mazar, Benjamin Mazar,

Eilat Mazar Eilat Mazar (; 10 September 195625 May 2021) was an Israeli archaeologist. She specialized in Jerusalem and Phoenician archaeology. She was also a key person in Biblical archaeology noted for her discovery of the Large Stone Structure, which ...

, Yigael Yadin *Astronomers: David H. Levy *Biology and biochemistry: Danny Ionescu, Sarah Spiegel (1974) *Botanists: Daniel Chamovitz,

Alexander Eig Alexander Eig (, ; 1894 – 30 July 1938) was a botanist, one of the first plant researchers in Israel, head of the department of Botany at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and co-founder of the National Botanic Garden of Israel on Mount Scopus ...

*Business: Kobi Alexander (former CEO and founder of Comverse Technology), Léo Apotheker (former CEO of

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

and SAP), Dina Dublon (board member of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Accenture Accenture plc is a global multinational professional services company originating in the United States and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, that specializes in information technology (IT) services and management consulting. It was founded in 1 ...

and

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

), Maxine Fassberg (former CEO of

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

Israel), Orit Gadiesh (Chairman of Bain & Company), Eli Hurvitz (CEO 1976–2002 Teva Pharmaceuticals),

Gil Shwed Gil Shwed (; born 1968) is an Israeli software engineer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board of Check Point, one of Israel's largest technology companies and the world's largest pure-play cybersecurity com ...

(CEO and chairman Check Point Software Technologies), Jonathan Kestenbaum, Baron Kestenbaum, chief operating officer of investment trust RIT Capital Partners, and a Labour member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

*Chemists: Yitzhak Apeloig, Adam Heller, Dan Meyerstein,

Moshe Ron Moshe Ron (; 1925 in Warsaw, Poland – 2001 in Haifa, Israel) was an Israeli materials scientist which specialized in metal hydrides. Biography Moshe Ron (Zilberman) was born in Poland. His family escaped to USSR before World War II. He star ...

, Renata Reisfeld *Climatologists: Amaelle Landais-Israël *Educators: Brother Rafael S. Donato FSC, Ed.D., was a Filipino De La Salle Brother and was the past President of De La Salle University Manila, University of St. La Salle, De La Salle Lipa, La Salle Green Hills and De La Salle Araneta University. *Film, theatre, show business:

Joseph Cedar Yossef (Joseph) Cedar (Hebrew: יוסף סידר; born August 31, 1968) is an Israeli film director and screenwriter. Biography Cedar was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in New York City. His father is biochemist Howard Cedar. When Joseph was ...

, Uri Zohar *Foreign service: Naomi Ben-Ami, Gabriela Shalev, Rafael Harpaz, Zion Evrony *Journalists: Khaled Abu Toameh, Ron Ben-Yishai, Nahum Barnea, Boaz Evron, Amos Kenan,

Sayed Kashua Sayed Kashua (, ; born 1975) is an author and journalist. He is a Palestinian people, Palestinian citizen of Israel, born in Tira, Israel. He is known for his books and humorous columns in Hebrew and English. Early life Kashua was born in Tira, ...

, Amira Hass,

Akiva Eldar Akiva Eldar (; born 27 November 1945) is an Israeli political analyst, author and journalist. Eldar wrote for the newspaper Haaretz and was chief political columnist, editorial writer and US Bureau Chief for the paper,

, Yossi Melman, Meron Benvenisti, Tom Segev, Haviv Rettig, Dan Margalit, Ya'akov Ahimeir, Michael Bar-Zohar, David Witzthum, Haim Gouri, Ehud Yaari, Zvi Yehezkeli *Historians: Esther Farbstein, Yuval Noah Harari, Itamar Rabinovich, Ron Robin, Semion Goldin *Law **Judges: Elisheva Barak-Ussoskin **Lawyers: Yoram Dinstein, Meir Shmuel Gabay, Elias Khoury, Menachem Mazuz, Ya'akov Ne'eman, Itzhak Nener, Malcolm Shaw, Joseph Raz **Law professor: Dorit Reiss *Mathematicians: Rami Grossberg (1986), Joram Lindenstrauss (1962), Moshe Machover (1962), Menachem Magidor, Amnon Pazy, Oded Schramm (1987),

(1969) *Physicists: Amikam Aharoni,

Max Jammer Max Jammer (; born Moshe Jammer, ; 13 April 1915 – 18 December 2010), was an Israeli physicist and philosophy of physics, philosopher of physics. He was born in Berlin, Germany. He was Rector and Acting President at Bar-Ilan University from 19 ...

, Igal Talmi, Micha Tomkiewicz *Psychologists:

Shlomo Breznitz Shlomo Breznitz (; born 3 August 1936) is an Israeli author, psychologist, former professor of psychology, former rector and president of the University of Haifa, and previous member of the Knesset. He is the founder and currently one of the mem ...

, Asher Cohen, Esther Perel *Religion: Jonathan Markovitch, Chief rabbi of

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

**Clergy: Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Colombo, 2nd Sri Lankan to be made a cardinal, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem **Theologians: Fr Malachi Martin, Yigal Arnon *Soldiers: Yishai Beer,

Uzi Dayan Aluf (Major General, res.) Uzi Dayan (; born January 4, 1948) is a former general in the Israel Defense Forces and an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud from 2020 to 2021. Biography Uzi Dayan is a nephew of Moshe ...

, Yuval Neria, Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu, Hans Ludwig Striem *Sports: Itzik Kornfein, Shaul Ladany, Adin Talbar, Yochanan Vollach *Writers:

Yehuda Amichai Yehuda Amichai (; born Ludwig Pfeuffer 3 May 1924 – 22 September 2000) was an Israelis, Israeli poet and author, one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew language, Hebrew in modern times. Yehuda Amichai, the poet of everyday life, love, ...

, Galila Ron-Feder Amit, Aharon Appelfeld, Netiva Ben-Yehuda, Elias Chacour, Yael Dayan, Yuval Elizur, Helen Epstein,

Jonah Frankel Jonah Frankel, () also spelled Yonah Frankel, (1928–2012) was an author, Hebrew literature professor and Israel Prize laureate. Biography Jonah Frankel was born in Munich in 1928 and emigrated to Israel in 1937 to escape the Nazis. In high sch ...

, David Grossman, Dmitry Glukhovsky, Batya Gur, Shifra Horn, Amos Oz, A. B. Yehoshua, Amnon Jackont, Amalia Kahana-Carmon, Yehoshua Kenaz, Miriam Roth, Amir Segal, Anton Shammas, Gideon Telpaz, Natan Yonatan

Yissum

Yissum Research Development Company is the university's technology transfer company, founded in 1964. Yissum handles all licenses and patents of the researchers and employees of the Hebrew University. Since its formation Yissum has founded more than 80 spin-off companies such as:

Mobileye Mobileye Global Inc. is a United States- domiciled, Israel-headquartered autonomous driving company. It is developing self-driving technologies and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) including cameras, computer chips, and software. Mobil ...

, BriefCam, HumanEyes, OrCam, ExLibris, BioCancell, NewStem and many more. Yissum is led by Yaacov Michlin and other leaders in the business industry such as: Tamir Huberman, Dov Reichman, Shoshi Keinan, Ariela Markel and Michal Levy. Yissum is also a member of ITTN (Israel Technology Transfer Organization).

References

External links

Official website

Friends of The Hebrew University

American Friends of the Hebrew University British Friends of The Hebrew University (BFHU) Canadian Friends of The Hebrew University (CFHU)

Alumni

The European Alumni of The Hebrew University

Locations

campus: * Givat Ram Stadium: {{Authority control 1925 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Universities and colleges established in 1925 Law schools in Israel Research institutes in Israel Universities in Israel Universities and colleges in Jerusalem Erich Mendelsohn buildings Buildings and structures in Rehovot Mount Scopus