Prof. Daniel A. Chamovitz
President of Ben Gurion University
E-mail:president@bgu.ac.il
Daniel A. Chamovitz Ph.D. was elected President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in August 2018 after serving as Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel-Aviv University since 2014 and assumed the presidency on January 1, 2019.
Prof. Chamovitz, a native of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, studied at both Columbia University in NYC and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he obtained a PhD in genetics.
From 1993 to 1996, he carried out postdoctoral research at Yale University before accepting a faculty position at Tel Aviv University. As a member of Tel Aviv University's academic faculty, he received the prestigious Alon Fellowship for outstanding young researchers from the Council for Higher Education.
He has published extensively on developmental biology, computational biology and botany in scientific journals. He is founder of the Manna Program for Food Security at Tel Aviv University and his 2012 popular science book, 'What a Plant Knows', received critical attention worldwide and has been translated into 18 languages.
Prof. Chamovitz is an internationally recognized activist promoting plant sciences and their contribution to feeding the growing world population and is on the editorial board of several important scientific journals.
Prof. Dan Blumberg
Vice-President for Research and Development
E-mail:vprid@bgu.ac.il
As Vice-President for Research and Development, Prof. Dan Blumberg oversaw a range of initiatives and collaborative efforts in Israel and abroad, on a wide range of academic areas. During his tenure as Vice-President, BGU developed research ties with universities in Arizona and Illinois, hospitals in China and Cincinnati and more. He also oversaw the development of collaborative efforts with the Israel Police, Israel's defense establishment, private industry and successfully lobbied for many large research grants.
In his role as Vice-President for Industrial and Regional Development, Prof. Blumberg is responsible for developing and protecting the University's role in the ongoing expansion of the hi-tech industry at BGU, in Beer-Sheva and around the Negev region and has a key role in promoting applied research around the world. He also focuses on maintaining and expanding the University's relationships with the private sector.
Prof. Blumberg is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and is the head of BGU's Earth and Planetary Image Facility. He received his PhD in Planetary Geology and Physical Geography from Arizona State University. He has conducted groundbreaking research in remote sensing, including experiments involving observation systems installed on satellites and aircraft to study planetary geography, on Earth and other planets. He is a member of the NASA Spaceborne Imaging Radar Science Team, as well as the Israel Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. He is the director of Israel's Homeland Security Institute, as well as of BGU's award-winning Green Campus initiative.
In 2017 Prof. Blumberg's lab launched a nano-satellite, BGUSAT, equipped with a CCD camera, a Tri-Axis inertial sensor, an experimental space GPS sensor from Honeywell, a magnometer, an optic communication sensor and optional extra payload to allow it to take photographs of a variety of weather patterns. The University also built a lab to save the photographs and to give faculty members and students access to the images.
Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel
Vice-President for Global Engagement
E-mail:limorad@bgu.ac.il
Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel oversees strategic development to raise BGU's profile on the international stage. She works with BGU President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz, Rector Prof. Chaim Hames and other vice-presidents to cultivate and establish strategic ties with foreign universities to leverage the University's research, and bolster academic excellence and its commitment to impacting the developing world.
Prof. Aharonson-Daniel's office is responsible for maintaining academic ties around the world, student and faculty exchange programs, and provides support for foreign students studying at BGU.
Prof. Aharonson-Daniel is a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences and is a founding member of the School for Public Health. She earned a BA degree in statistics from Tel Aviv University and a doctorate in public health from Hong Kong University. She came to BGU in 2008 after serving as the deputy director of The Israel National Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research. In 2009 she opened and headed the Masters program in Emergency Preparedness and Response and founded the PREPARED Center for Emergency Response Research.
Between 2011 and 2016, Prof. Aharonson-Daniel served as head of the Department of Emergency Medicine until she was named Vice-Rector for International Academic affairs. As Vice-Rector she lead several significant initiatives to raise the University's international profile, including drafting a five-year plan for internationalization that was presented to the Council of Higher Education. As a result of that presentation the Council granted BGU a large operating fund, which has enabled the University to expand English-language courses and options for incoming international students. The expansion of BGU's exchange agreements with academic institutions around the world during her tenure has lead to significant growth in the number of BGU students and staff participating in exchange programs with colleagues overseas.
