University of Haifa: Revitalizing War-Torn Northern Israel

CleanShot 2025 01 28 at 10.37.57

12:00 pm

Virtual Event

Ever since Hezbollah immediately joined Hamas in terrorizing Israel after October 7, the North of Israel has been under the persistent threat of rocket attacks for months on end, causing a mass exodus of residents. Today, some 90,000 of them remain evacuees — refugees in their own country.

University of Haifa, which prides itself as a beacon of hope in the North of Israel, has worked tirelessly during the ongoing war to ensure the physical safety and mental health of its own students, while also expanding its longtime role as growth engine in its city and region. Join American Friends of University of Haifa for a special briefing with University of Haifa President Prof. Gur Alroey and Rector Prof. Mouna Maroun, who will reveal how the University is rebuilding, revitalizing, and restoring the North.

President Alroey is the University’s former Rector, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Department Head. As Rector, he championed a commitment to environmental and social sustainability as the University’s guiding academic vision. Under his leadership, the University achieved the top ranking among Israeli research universities in the Times Higher Education Sustainability Index. He also established the prestigious Ruderman Program for American Jewish Studies with the support of the Ruderman Family Foundation.

Prof. Maroun is a woman of many firsts — the first Israeli Arab to rise to the rank of rector in an Israeli higher education institution, a first-generation university graduate in her family, and the first Arab woman in Israel to hold a senior faculty position in the natural sciences. She is also a member of the National Planning and Budgeting Committee of Israel’s Council for Higher Education.

Together, President Alroey and Prof. Maroun will lay out the University’s strategic vision, rooted in the institution’s steadfast dedication to advancing academic excellence, public health, social welfare, and social responsibility. This webinar will be moderated by Bradley M. Bloom, Chairman of the University of Haifa’s Board of Governors and Co-Founder of private equity firm Berkshire Partners.