$$News and Reports$$

Nov. 09, 2020

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev congratulates Prof. Rivka Carmi on receiving the Mifal Hapais Landau Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was given “for outstanding initiative to advance medicine and health services in the Negev".

Between 2006 and 2018, Prof. Carmi served as President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and was the first woman to head a research university in Israel. In August 2010, she also became the first woman to serve as the Chairperson of the Committee of University Heads in Israel, serving in that role until December 2012.

In 2000, she was elected Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at BGU – also the first woman to hold this position in Israel – and served in that position for five years. Between 2002 – 2005, she also served as the Chairperson of the Israeli Association of Medical Deans.

Prof. Carmi, a geneticist and pediatrician, founded the Genetics Institute at Soroka University Medical Center. She has received many awards and honors for her work, including an honorary Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the name of Queen Elizabeth II, for her efforts to deepen the academic and scientific ties between Great Britain and Israel; the Women of Distinction Award of the Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America; an award in excellence from the Israel Ambulatory Pediatric Association (IAPA). In 2017, she was named Distinguished Citizen of Beer-Sheva. In addition, she was active in promoting the status of women in academia.

Mifal Hapais works to promote research, science, the arts and culture in Israel, by bestowing awards on artists and scientists amongst others who have made considerable achievements in their fields.  This year the awards were given to nine scientists and artists, with each of the winners receiving NIS 150,000