The Hebrew University of Jerusalem marked on Tuesday the completion of its first century since it officially opened, celebrating achievements as a leading research and teaching institution, as well as accomplishments in the fields of innovation and community involvement.
The inauguration of the university at the amphitheater on Mount Scopus in 1925 was attended by delegates such as future president of Israel Dr. Chaim Weizmann, chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook, Lord Arthur Balfour, and poet Chaim Nachman Bialik in an impressively large ceremony.
“It’s part of our legacy,” Prof. Asher Cohen, president of the university, said in conversation with The Jerusalem Post. “Our graduates worked to make Israel the model country it became.”
Born in Jerusalem to a religious family, Prof. Cohen studied psychology with a focus on brain research, and has been a member of the psychology department at the university since 1992. He has served as president of the university since 2017.
Most recently, he was among the university presidents who called to strike should the government oppose the Supreme Court ruling with regard to the removal of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara from her post.
While the university doesn’t have a role in politics, Cohen said that on rare occasions, the university voices its viewpoint. “We do have values, and when our values are in danger, we express our opinions.
“A leading research and teaching university cannot survive in an environment that is not democratic,” he noted, adding, “If we don’t obey the law, we cannot function as a democratic country.”
Set to finish his tenure in the end of September, he affirmed it was an honor and a privilege to head the university, which he termed “the most important civil institution in Israel.”
At the basis of the university’s actions were four core pillars – teaching and research, its involvement in the community and industry, and its international relations.
“We are unique in that we expressly look at all four,” Cohen said.
While not part of the university’s official charter, engaging with the community was an essential part of the university’s identity.
Following the October 7 massacre perpetrated in southern Israel, the university “decided to help the Gaza border area in every way we can,” Cohen shared.
In Ofakim, a city that had been heavily impacted by the massacre, the university provided help in the field of agricultural technology to aid city residents along with those in its vicinity.
The university’s community outreach has also been more local, as is exemplified by the Haruv Institute, located on Mount Scopus. The institute, which focuses on child welfare, especially child abuse, has enabled the involvement of students and faculty members from the schools of social work and occupational therapy and the department of psychology.
“This is something that is part of the community, and we can help, so we do it,” Cohen said.
As a leading innovation institution, the university can count among its achievements inventions ranging from the cherry tomato to drug developments for various diseases.
The technologies for many leading tech companies were first developed at the university, such as Mobileye, whose founder is still a member of the faculty, Cohen said.
The university is looking to broaden its activities in innovation, with the construction of the Gav Yam Hebrew University Hi-Tech Park – a large hi-tech park situated on the outskirts of the Edmond J. Safra Givat Ram Campus.
With the first buildings set to be inaugurated in two months, the park will host hi-tech companies, accommodating some 10,000 employees, who will be able to interact with the students and researchers.
“Our researchers can help the companies, and can be helped by the companies,” Cohen stated.
For Cohen, among the university’s milestones were also recent accomplishments relating to innovation, such as the Center for Computational Medicine, which merges medical and biomedical research along with computer science and data.
An important aspect of the center, Prof. Cohen said, was the involvement of physicians from the Hadassah-University Medical Center, who could use their knowledge in conjunction with the technological tools provided by the center to treat patients and prevent future diseases.
An additional innovative landmark was the Hebrew University FOOJI Center for Sustainable Food.
“Food is a challenge for future generations. The world is growing, its climate is changing for the worse, in terms of agriculture, and you still need to supply food for everybody,” Cohen said.
The center seeks to address such issues with a comprehensive approach, dealing with all aspects of food, from agriculture to nutrition.
THE SUCCESS of the university is apparent in its world ranking and the nine Nobel Prize laureates associated with the institution, who Cohen said were “a symbol of our success.”
According to the Shanghai Ranking, in 2024, the Hebrew University ranked 81st among the world’s 100 leading universities and is placed first as a research university in Israel.
“I want to put it in context,” Cohen said, noting that along with the Hebrew University, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the Weizmann Institute of Science were also listed in the top 100.
“In the entire world, there are seven other countries that have three or more institutions in the top 100,” out of some 3,000 institutions that compete. “I consider it a very impressive achievement for Israel, not just the Hebrew University.”
According to Cohen, this could be attributed to “something in the culture of wanting to do good, to be innovative. It makes us a society that develops many such individuals that are able to contribute.”
Looking at the legacy of the university a century later, Cohen noted, “I would say we made a difference.
“From the very start we always tried to do new things, to find breakthroughs, in every possible field,” he said.
But in a fluctuating world, the university had to adapt.
“You need to really be on your toes, look at future things, try to understand better the world, and educate the next generation,” Cohen explained. “You always need those institutions that think within and outside the boundaries.”
Artificial intelligence was the beginning of a revolution that has yet an unclear outcome, Cohen said. “Like everyone else, we are trying to deal with it, we are trying to see what it is, we are trying to develop it, to use it to understand what it means.
“We don’t know where it is going to take us and what its effect will be on the future of universities.”
'University will continue to flourish'
However, Cohen looked with confidence at the future of the university. “In the end, we will be there, and we are still going to have the demand.
“We are going to continue contributing to science, to teaching, and to the country,” he said, adding, “We have so many generations of graduates at the Hebrew University that you see how they shaped the world and affect Israel and beyond.”
“Our students will impact the world in all kinds of important ways, and some of them would not have [done so] if they hadn’t entered the Hebrew University,” he stated.
“The university will continue to flourish, will continue to have a highly important impact on the society in Israel, and continue to be the brand name that it is.”