BGU and the University of Illinois at Chicago signed an agreement on Thursday July 21, to collaborate on joint research programs, academic cooperative programs and student exchange programs.
Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn represented the University of Illinois at the signing ceremony as part of a trip to Israel with a delegation of state officials, businesspeople and representatives of the
Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, which organized the trip. The agreement was signed by the governor and by the dean of BGU’s Faculty of Health Sciences, Prof. Shaul Sofer. BGU Prof. Rivka Carmi and Illinois State Senators Ira Silverstein and Jeffrey M. Schoenberg also participated in the ceremony.
“Education is how we prepare our workers for the jobs of today and tomorrow,” said Governor Quinn. “This is an excellent partnership between two world-class universities, and I look forward to the results of their efforts.” The agreement formalizes scholarly and scientific interaction between the institutions’ departments of public health through the promotion of exchange opportunities for academic staff, professional staff and students, and by encouraging cooperative activities. “The key to expanding life expectancy is public health. This agreement is designed to expand and enrich people’s lives,” the governor remarked.
Before the signing, the delegation was briefed by Vice-President for External Affairs Prof. Amos Drory and Dr. Limor Aharonson-Daniel, the founding director of
BGU’s Prepared Center for Emergency Response Research, in response to the governor’s request for information on homeland security matters. Aharonson-Daniel outlined the applied research the center was undertaking.
“We are very interested in preparedness,” BGU President Prof. Carmi and former Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences said, “We have a wonderful team run by women. We are always interested in more collaborations.”
“The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago has been proud and pleased to be able to play a role in advancing the relationship between BGU and UIC. Today, that partnership moves to a new stage which is sure to bring benefits to both universities and to both of the communities which they serve,” Michael Kotzin, executive vice president of the Jewish United Fund, said following the ceremony.
"We are delighted that Governor Quinn is so interested in BGU’s academic and research programs in disaster preparedness and the joint cooperation between two highly regarded institutions of higher learning,” says Judy Rosen, regional director of the Great Lakes Region of American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. “We look forward to many exciting programs and joint research developments between the universities and also with the State of Illinois.”
BGU lecturer and award-winning author and screenplay writer Etgar Keret joined the governor later that evening for dinner.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (left) and Prof. Shaul Sofer, Dean of BGU's Faculty of Health Sciences, sign a cooperation agreement on Thursday between BGU and the University of Illinois at Chicago to collaborate in the field of public health
