Hebrew University of Jerusalem

History

One of the visions of the Zionist movement was the establishment of a Jewish university in the Land of Israel. Founding a university was proposed as far back as 1884 in the Kattowitz (Katowice) conference of the Hovevei Zion society.

The cornerstone for the university was laid on July 24, 1918. Seven years later, on April 1, 1925, the Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus was opened at a gala ceremony attended by the leaders of the Jewish world, distinguished scholars and public figures, and British dignitaries, including the Earl of Balfour, Viscount Allenby and Sir Herbert Samuel. The University's first Chancellor was Judah Magnes.

By 1947, the University had become a large research and teaching institution. Plans for a medical school were approved in May 1949, and in November 1949, a faculty of law was inaugurated. In 1952, it was announced that the agricultural institute founded by the University in 1940 would become a full-fledged faculty.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, attacks were carried out against convoys moving between the Israeli-controlled section of Jerusalem and the University. The leader of the Arab forces in Jerusalem, Abdul Kader Husseini, threatened military action against the university Hadassah Hospital "if the Jews continued to use them as bases for attacks." After the Hadassah medical convoy massacre, in which 79 Jews, including doctors and nurses, were slaughtered, the Mount Scopus campus was cut off from Jerusalem. British soldier Jack Churchill coordinated the evacuation of 700 Jewish doctors, students and patients from the hospital.

When the Jordan government denied Israeli access to Mount Scopus, a new campus was built at Givat Ram in western Jerusalem and completed in 1958. In the interim, classes were held in 40 different buildings around the city.

The Terra Santa building in Rehavia, rented from the Franciscan Custodians of the Latin Holy Places, was also used for this purpose. A few years later, together with the Hadassah Medical Organization, a medical science campus was built in the south-west Jerusalem neighborhood of Ein Kerem.

By the beginning of 1967, the students numbered 12,500, spread among the two campuses in Jerusalem and the agricultural faculty in Rehovot. After the unification of Jerusalem, following the Six-Day War of June 1967, the University was able to return to Mount Scopus, which was rebuilt. In 1981 the construction work was completed, and Mount Scopus again became the main campus of the University.

On July 31, 2002, a member of a terrorist cell detonated a bomb during lunch hour at the University's "Frank Sinatra" cafeteria when it was crowded with staff and students. Nine people — five Israelis, three Americans, and one dual French-American citizen — were murdered and more than 70 wounded. World leaders, including Kofi Annan, President Bush, and the President of the European Union issued statements of condemnation.

Mount Scopus

Mount Scopus (Hebrew: Har HaTzofim הר הצופים), in the north-eastern part of Jerusalem, is home to the main campus, which contains the Faculties of Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, Jerusalem School of Business Administration, Bearwald School of Social Work, Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Rothberg International School, and the Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies.

The Rothberg International School features secular studies and Jewish/Israeli studies. Included for foreign students is also a mandatory Ulpan program for Hebrew language study which includes a mandatory course in Israeli culture and customs. All Rothberg Ulpan classes are taught by Israeli natives. However, many other classes at the Rothberg School are taught by Jewish immigrants to Israel.

The land on Mt. Scopus was purchased before World War I from Sir John Gray-Hill, along with the Gray-Hill mansion. The master plan for the university was designed by Patrick Geddes and his son-in-law, Frank Mears in December 1919. Only three buildings of this original design were built: The Wolfson National Library, the Mathematics Institute, and the Physics Institute.

Housing for students at Hebrew University who live on Mount Scopus is located at the three dormitories located near the university. These are the Maiersdorf (מאירסדורף) dormitories, the Bronfman (ברונפמן) dormitories, and the Kfar HaStudentim (כפר הסטודנטים, the students' village).

Nearby is the Nicanor Cave, an ancient cave which was planned to be a national pantheon.

Edmond J. Safra, Givat Ram

The Givat Ram campus (recently renamed after Edmond Safra) is the home of the Faculty of Science including the Einstein Institute of Mathematics; the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies, the Center for the Study of Rationality, as well as the National Library of Israel, (JNUL).

Ein Kerem

The Faculties of Medicine and Dental Medicine and The Institute For Medical Research, Israel-Canada (IMRIC) are located at the south-western Jerusalem Ein Kerem campus alongside the Hadassah-University Medical Center.

Rehovot

The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and the Environment and the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine are located in the city of Rehovot in the coastal plain. The Faculty was established in 1942 and the School of Veterinary Medicine opened in 1985. These are the only institutions of higher learning in Israel that offer both teaching and research programs in their respective fields. The Faculty is a member of the Euroleague for Life Sciences.

Libraries

The Jewish National and University Library is the central and largest library of the Hebrew University and one of the most impressive book and manuscript collections in the world. It is also the oldest section of the university. Founded in 1892 as a world center for the preservation of books relating to Jewish thought and culture, it assumed the additional functions of a general university library in 1920. Its collections of Hebraica and Judaica are the largest in the world. It houses all materials published in Israel, and attempts to acquire all materials published in the world related to the country. It possesses over five million books and thousands of items in special sections, many of which are unique. Among these are the Albert Einstein Archives, Hebrew manuscripts department, Eran Laor map collection, Edelstein science collection, Gershom Scholem collection, and a collection of Maimonides' manuscripts and early writings.

In his Will, Albert Einstein left the Hebrew University his personal papers and the copyright to them. The Albert Einstein Archives contain some 55,000 items. In March, 2012 the University announced that it had digitized the entire archive, and was planning to make it more accessible online. Included in the collection are his personal notes, love letters to various women, including the woman who would become his second wife, Elsa.

In addition to the National Library, the Hebrew University operates subject-based libraries on its campuses, among them the Avraham Harman Science Library, Safra, Givat Ram; Mathematics and Computer Science Library, Safra, Givat Ram; Earth Sciences Library, Safra, Givat Ram; Muriel and Philip I. Berman National Medical Library, Ein Kerem; Central Library of Agricultural Science, Rehovot; Bloomfield Library for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Mt. Scopus; Bernard G. Segal Law Library Center, Mt. Scopus; Emery and Claire Yass Library of the Institute of Archaeology, Mt. Scopus; Moses Leavitt Library of Social Work, Mt. Scopus; Zalman Aranne Central Education Library, Mt. Scopus; Library of the Rothberg School for International Students, Mt. Scopus; Roberta and Stanley Bogen Library of the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Mt. Scopus; and the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive.

The Hebrew University libraries and their web catalogs can be accessed through the HUJI Library Authority portal.

Rankings

According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, the Hebrew University is the top university in Israel, overall the 59th-best university in the world, 33rd in mathematics, between 76th and 100th in computer science, and between 51st and 75th in business/economics. In 2015, the Center for World University Rankings ranked the Hebrew University 23rd in the world and the top in Israel in its World University Rankings.

Friends of the University

The university has an international Society of Friends organizations covering more than 25 countries. The American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU) is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that provides programs, events and fundraising activities in support of the university. It was founded by the American philanthropist, Felix M. Warburg in 1925.

Faculty

Notable alumni

Yissum Research Development Company

Yissum Research Development Company is the university's technology transfer company, founded in 1964. Yissum owns all the intellectual property of the researchers and employees of the Hebrew University. Since its formation Yissum has founded more than 80 spin-off companies such as: Mobileye, BriefCam, HumanEyes, OrCam, ExLibris, BioCancell and many more. Yissum is led by Yaacov Michlin and other leaders in the business industry such as: Tamir Huberman, Dov Reichman, Shoshi Keinan, Ariela Markel and Michal Levy. Yissum is also a member of ITTN (Israel Technology Transfer Organization).