Prof. Abraham Mehrez, 1947-2001

​​Abraham Mehrez (b. Haifa, Dec. 22, 1947) died on February 5, 2001 after a courageous struggle with cancer. A Full Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, where he held the George Shrut Chair in Decision Making and Risk Management, Prof. Mehrez was found​er and first Dean of the School Business at the University.  He received his PhD in operations research from the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Professor Mehrez published more than 200 articles in operational research, production management, logistic systems, decision-making, and risk management journals.  Prof. Mehrez was known as an enthusiastic football fan. In recent years he was also involved with football as a consultant, a radio commentator and researcher.

Prof. Mehrez served the University as Deputy Rector and had twice been Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management for six years.  Among his other academic activities related to management fields, he initiated the University’s School of Management (today the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management) and served as its first dean. He held various appointments to academic committees at BGU, including the Central Committee, academic development committees, and headed the academic members committee and more.

He initiated and created numerous academic development plans for the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, including creation of a curriculum for human resources management, an Information and Systems degree program, and plans for an MSc for industrial managers in the private sector (factories, industries), as well as for career officers in the IDF and the chemical industries.

At the national level, he had been a member of a number of different governmental committees in the public sector, including the Council for Higher Education of Israel, where he served as a member of sub-committees for colleges, and academic consultant for colleges and universities in Israel.  For thirteen years he has also been a consultant for the Security Information Services of the IDF for logistics, operations management and cost benefit analysis of field intelligence systems.

His more than 200 articles in operational research fields, production management and logistics systems, decision-making, and risk management appear in a number of prestigious international publications, among others.

Finally, Prof. Mehrez served as a member of the Editorial Boards of six leading international journals in scientific management fields, operation research and production.  He was a consultant to international companies and organizations in Israel, the United States and Canada.  Among these, he had been a consultant for the Dead Sea Works for thirteen years and served as Director for the Public Interest in Brome Ltd.  He was also Honorary President of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies in Environmental Management, Locational Decisions and Regional Planning (ISEMLORE) and Editor-in-Chief of Management Science and Regional Development: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal.  Prof. Mehrez was affiliated with various universities including Case Western Reserve University, MacMaster University, Johns Hopkins University, Tel-Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.