“It is in the Negev that Jewish scientific talent
and research ability shall be tested.”

Prof. Daniel A. Chamovitz

President, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Prof. Daniel A. Chamovitz became the President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in January 2019 after serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University since 2014. Prof. Chamovitz, a native of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, studied at both Columbia University in New York City and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he obtained a Ph.D. 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 was awarded a 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 the 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 was translated into 18 languages.

Prof. Raz Jelinek

Vice President and Dean for R&D
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Prof. Raz Jelinek became the Vice President and Dean for R&D at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in 2019 after being a faculty member in BGU’s Department of Chemistry for over 20 years. He completed his bachelor's degree in chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1988, pursued his doctorate in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley (1993), and was a Cancer Research Institute postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1996, he returned to Israel and joined the Department of Chemistry at BGU. He has also served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, Jilin University (China), and NYU Shanghai (China). Prof. Jelinek has published more than 180 scientific articles in leading journals, written four textbooks, and submitted 15 patent applications.

Mr. David Bareket

Vice President and Director General
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Mr. David Bareket was appointed Director General of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in July 2003 and Vice-President in January 2007. He is a graduate of Tel Aviv University with a BA in accounting and economics, and holds an MBA from BGU. He has a deep understanding and knowledge of the university’s management system and has held various positions including: Deputy Director of the Finance Department, and University Accountant. Mr. Bareket is a member of the university’s Board of Governors, Executive Committee, and Senate. In the framework of his position, he also holds senior positions on many committees on campus dealing with a variety of issues.