BGU President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz officially opened the University's jubilee celebration yesterday (Monday 20th) unveiling the 50th anniversary logo and kicking off a one-year countdown to the University's 50th birthday in May, 2020.
In a wide ranging inaugural address to BGU's Board of Governors, Prof. Chamovitz said there is a direct link between his childhood as one of the only Jewish children in Aliquippa, a mill town in western Pennsylvania and his connection with Beer-Sheva and southern Israel.
“Having grown up in a town on the lower end socio-economic scale, I have a unique understanding of the needs of many of the communities in and around Beer-Sheva," the President said. “And as the only Jewish kid in my high school, I developed a strong identity of what it means to be Jewish. I was involved in the Young Judea youth group, and that led me to Israel."
On the University he said, "Fifty years ago, when the Minister of Education Yigal Alon officially dedicated the "University of the Negev", the government's goal was to develop Beer-Sheva and the Negev. The University was to become a beacon whose light enriched the various populations of the south, and whose very presence drove developments in local industry, culture and politics.
Over these past 49 years, we have created a new ecosystem where Inspiration meets Excellence, where the Zionist dream that anything is possible, is alive and kicking. Fifty years later, this commitment to our community is alive and flourishing. More than 6,000 students, Jews, Moslems, Christians and Druze, over 50% of our undergraduate student body, are involved in a wide variety of community and social projects in the region under the auspices of BGU's Department of Community Action.
President Chamovitz concluded by thanking the Board of Governors for their support and dedicating himself to leading BGU to become Israel's number one research university by the end of his tenure as president in 2030.
"BGU embodies everything that brought me to Israel, and everything that is great about Israel today," he said. “Our connection with Beer-Sheva and the Negev region is in the DNA of our University, which means that BGU's success is tied to the success of southern Israel, and from there to the fortunes of the State of Israel as a whole.
"Overseeing this process is a terrific honor, and one that I am excited to undertake. I know that sounds very ambitious, but I sincerely believe that all the pieces are in place for BGU to become Israel's premier institute of higher education.
"I have no doubt that the future of BGU is bright and promising. I trust that we are all dedicated and excited to take the next steps of this journey, and that together, we will succeed in writing the next chapter of the BGU miracle!"
