The Hebrew University was founded as the first major Zionist project in the Land of Israel, and began operating as early as 1925. Its founders include some of the greatest scientists and intellectuals of the twentieth century: Albert Einstein, Chaim Weizmann, Chaim Nachman Bialik, Martin Buber, and Sigmund Freud. Since the university’s establishment, its researchers have been consistently at the forefront of world research. Over the years, they have won multiple prestigious awards, including eight Nobel Prizes and hundreds of Israel Prizes. Many Israeli political and business leaders have studied at the university over the years. Accordingly, beyond its academic role, the university’s economic contribution to the State of Israel, and particularly to the Jerusalem Municipality, is estimated at billions of shekels annually. The Hebrew University has also played an important role in shaping the cultural identity of Jerusalem. Finally, the university has made a critical contribution in the field of innovation, developing life-saving drugs and creating major knowledge-intensive companies.

Recognizing the university’s broad role in science, state and society, its administration has set four core objectives that steer its ongoing activities and development programs:

1. Academic excellence in research and teaching
2. Positioning the university as a leading international institution
3. Strengthening academic-industrial ties
4. Involvement in community life in Jerusalem and Israel

To position the university at the forefront of world science, and provide its graduates with the appropriate tools for dealing with the frequent changes in the labor market, we place particular emphasis on multidisciplinary teaching and research. We offer a variety of innovative curricula in almost all academic fields – on six different campuses. We see great importance in training graduate students as the next generation of Israeli academic, economic and political leadership, among other things by offering fully funded excellence scholarships. To provide our researchers with a state-of-the-art scientific environment, we also invest in research infrastructures that attract young and promising researchers in all fields to join the university as faculty members.

The Hebrew University cultivates extensive international relations with leading universities. These involve research collaborations and international degree and student exchange programs with the finest universities. The university has also opened its doors to international students and faculty from all over the world, both as part of dedicated programs and as part of our regular curricula, some of which are taught in English.

We see great importance in strengthening university-industry ties – from the skills we provide to our students, through research collaborations with commercial companies to develop value-adding scientific solutions, to the commercialization of patents developed in our laboratories. To this end, the university has established a one-of-a-kind entrepreneurship center, which enables students to actively participate in exciting projects and promote innovations while studying. In addition, Yissum – our technology transfer company – helps university researchers register and commercialize of patents, and connects them with various private sector companies for joint research. Finally, we are currently establishing an innovation park on the outskirts of the Edmond J. Safra (Givat Ram) Campus in Jerusalem. The park will serve as a bridge between Israel’s leading tech companies and the Hebrew University’s researchers and students.

As a Jerusalem institution that trains over 25,000 students a year, and as Jerusalem’s largest employer, the Hebrew University has a deep responsibility for the community in Israel and its capital. In recent years, the university has championed the inclusion of all populations making up Israeli society. We believe in a diverse, pluralistic and egalitarian campus, where students from different backgrounds get to know each other and experience the value of living together. In addition, the university offers a variety of programs for outstanding youth and also leads the IDF's academic elite programs.

A century after the cornerstone of the Hebrew University has been laid, I have the responsibility and privilege of leading it towards the next hundred years. This means steering the university on a path of academic, cultural and financial growth, in humble recognition of its unique role in Israeli society.

Asher Cohen