​​​​​​​​​​​​​​May 19 – 23, 2019

Print Program


Sunday, May 19, 2019

4:00 p.m.
Finance Committee Meeting
Chairperson: Eric Charles, UK
W.A. Minkoff Senate Hall

​6:00 p.m. 
Campus Tours:
​General Tour of the Marcus Family Campus
Or
Tour of the new Sculpture Trail on the Marcus Family Campus
Departing from the campus model adjacent to the W.A. Minkoff Senate Hall

7:00 p.m. 
Meet and Greet Dinner with President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz
(for our guests from abroad)


​Monday, May 20, 2019

8:00 a.m. 
American Associates of Ben-Gurion University Welcome Breakfast
Leonardo Negev Hotel
(by invitation)

​9:30 a.m.
Registration

10:00 a.m.
Opening Plenary Session of the 49th Board of Governors Meeting
With:
Alexander M. Goren, Chairman of the Board of Governors
Prof. Chaim Hames, Rector 
Announcement of the Seventh Goldstein-Goren International Prize for the Most Important Book in Jewish Thought 2016-2018: Prof. Haim Kreisel, Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought​
Inaugural Address: President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz
Joya Claire Sonnenfeldt Auditorium

11:00 a.m.
BGU Talks: Inspiring short talks by stellar BGU Researchers
Speakers:
Dr. Sarah Abu-Kaf, Conflict Management and Resolution Program
Dr. Hadar Ben-Yoav, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Prof. Anne Bernheim, Department of Chemical Engineering
Prof. Eli C. Lewis, Chair, Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology
Moderator: Dana Gavish-Fridman, Head of Yazamut 360 for Entrepreneurship, BGU
Joya Claire Sonnenfeldt Auditorium

12:00 noon
Lunch

1:00 p.m.
Chamber Music Concert in Memory of Dr. Heinz-Horst Deichmann
Antonin Dvořák,  Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, op. 81
Performed by BGU students and staff
Musical direction: Daniel Lachish​
Joya Claire Sonnenfeldt Auditorium

3:00 p.m.         
Irene and Hyman Kreitman Annual Memorial Event
Spotlight on the New National Autism Research Center at BGU
Moderator: Prof. Raz Jelinek, Vice President and Dean for Research and Development​
with:
Prof. Ilan Dinstein, Depts. of Psychology and of Cognitive & Brain Sciences
Prof. Gal Meiri, MD, Faculty of Health Sciences and Psychiatry Division, SUMC
Prof. Hava Golan,  Dept. of Physiology and Cell Biology
Dr. Idan Menashe, Dept. of Public Health​
W.A. Minkoff Senate Hall​

​4:30 p.m.       
Student Event: Osim Rehov (Street Makeover)
Pitch in at a Student Union project to improve a community space in Beer-Sheva
Sponsored by donors from AABGU
Peretz Garden, Ringelblum St​.
(casual clothes that can be dirtied recommended)

​8:00 p.m.       
Gala Evening in honor of Alex Goren, outgoing Chairman of the Board of Governors
"Kamuyot": A Performance by the Batsheva Dance Company
(For registered participants only)
Jacqueline Ann Ayrton ​Sports Hall


​Tuesday, May 21, 2019

​​9:30 a.m.       
Ceremony Recognizing the University's Most Loyal Supporters
In front of the Zalman Aranne Central Library

11:00 a.m.        
Academics at BGU: A Panel Discussion with Rector Prof. Chaim Hames
Participants:
Prof. Ohad Ben-Shahar, Chair, Dept. of Computer Science
Dr. Orit Ouaknine-Yekutieli, Dept. of Middle East Studies
Dr. Miriam Amiram, Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren Dept. of Biotechnology Engineering​
W.A. Minkoff Senate Hall

12:15 p.m.
Annual Halpérin Lecture
Speaker: Prof. Daphna Hacker, Women and Gender Studies Program & Buchmann Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University
Legalized Families in the Era of Bordered Globalization
Moderator: Prof. Dani Filc, Michel Halpérin Chair in Global Law and Policy, 
Dept. of Politics and Government
In the presence of the Halpérin family, Switzerland and Israel
W.A. Minkoff Senate Hall

1:15 p.m.         
Lunch

2:30 p.m.       
Annual Zlotowski Event
Keynote speaker: Amb. Daniel B. Shapiro, former US Ambassador to Israel
How Authoritarian Regimes Challenge Democracies: A U.S. Policymakers' Perspective
Panel Discussion:
Cyber Politics: Election Interference in the Digital Age
Moderator: Prof. Sharon Pardo, Dept. of Politics and Government
Panelists: Prof. Bracha Shapira; Dr. Oren Tsur; Prof. Lior Rokach, Dept. of Software and Information Systems Engineering​

Presentation of the Zlotowski Admission Awards for Outstanding Students
In the presence of Adelene Zlotowski, Israel
W.A. Minkoff Senate Hall

7:30 p.m.       
Conferment Ceremony of Honorary Doctoral Degrees Upon:
Dr. Jan Low, USA
Ohad Naharin, Israel
Justice​ Prof. Ahmad Natour, Israel
Amb. Daniel B. Shapiro, USA
Toni Young, USA
and the President's Award upon:
Adv. Asher Heled, Israel​
Joya Claire Sonnenfeldt Auditorium​

8:30 p.m.       
Reception and Dinner
Udi Garden
Warm clothing recommended



Wednesday, May 22, 2019

10:00 a.m.       
Annual Review of Research Activities at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at Sede Boqer
Prof. Noam Weisbrod, BIDR Director
With:
Dr. Merav Seifan, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research
Dr. Oded Nir, Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research
Dr. Benyamin Rosental, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands​George Evens Family Auditorium, BGU Sede Boqer Campus

11:00 a.m.
Breakout tours and meetings with researchers and students at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research and the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism
(Pre-registration through IGT)

12:00 noon    
Lunch
Esther and Michel Halpérin Student Center​

1:00 p.m. 
Meeting Contemporary Challenges in Food Security
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jan Low, Principal Scientist, International Potato Center
Addressing the Triple Burden of Malnutrition in Africa with the Biofortified Sweetpotato
and 
Panel Discussion with Researchers from the French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands
Moderator: Prof. Aaron Fait
Panelists: Prof. Naftali Lazarovitch, Prof. Shimon Rachmilevitch​​
George Evens Family Auditorium

7:00 p.m.       
Festive Lag Ba'Omer Closing Event
BGU David Tuviyahu Campus, Beer-Sheva 
(For registered participants)
(Outdoors event, warm clothing recommended) 



Thursday, May 23, 2019​

10:00 a.m.       
Post-board Program
2nd Governors' Lecture Series: Human-Technology Interactions
Should humans and robots be friends? BGU researchers discuss how advances in AI, machine learning, robotics and other technologies are changing our lives.
Prof. Tal Oron-Gilad,  Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management
Teaming with Autonomous Systems
Dr. Jessica Cauchard,  Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management
Game of Drones
Dr. Nea Ehrlich, Department of the Arts
Seeing the World through Robot Eyes
Followed by a tour and hands-on experience in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management labs​
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Institute for Social Leadership, Room 001
(pre-reqistration through IGT required)

1:00 p.m.
Lunch

2:00 p.m.       
Program concludes

6:45 p.m.       
Conferment Ceremony of MD Degrees
Upon the 37th Class of the Joyce and Irving Goldman Medical School
Cummings Plaza