News Release
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The Hebrew University of Jerusalemהאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים___
HebrewU. to Award Bill Gates with First-Ever ‘Einstein Award’
Jerusalem, July 21, 2008 - Few individuals can be thought of as having really changed the world. Albert Einstein, a founding father of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was one. So too is Bill Gates.
In recognition of his unique impact on the world, the founder and chairman of Microsoft, Inc. and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be presented with the first-ever Einstein Award by the Hebrew University at a gala Einstein Award dinner to be held in New York in December 2008.
Announcing the new honor, Hebrew University President Professor Magidor stressed that it will be awarded only to extraordinary individuals whose work has had a proven global impact. “The Einstein Award represents the creation of a continuum of great minds and was inspired by the legacy of Albert Einstein, a founding father of our University who wrought a profound revolution in human understanding of the world. For him, the HebrewUniversity represented the ideal meeting point of Jewish heritage with the universality of the human spirit. This award will perpetuate Albert Einstein’s multifaceted legacy and pay tribute to today’s most original, creative and effective thinkers. Bill Gates is a most worthy recipient of this award — like Einstein, he is a leader whose actions stem from the knowledge that human progress includes the alleviation of human suffering.”
Proceeds from the gala Einstein Award dinner will fund interdisciplinary research at the HebrewUniversity’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences. The Faculty’s 100 scientists actively pursue research that seeks to provide enough healthy food for the world’s growing population while protecting and sustaining the environment. The Faculty is a recognized world leader in agricultural know-how, training and technology. It has conducted pioneering research in many developing countries, provides essential scientific training for students from these countries and counts innovations such as drip irrigation, aquaculture, functional foods and waste-water recycling among its many achievements. The HebrewUniversity's new campaign 'Feeding the Worldthrough Sustainable Agriculture' will support such research by providing funds for improvements to the campus’ facilities and for program innovations.
Bill Gates, along with his wife Melinda, maintains an ardent commitment to sustainable agriculture and outreach to developing nations through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The first recipient of the HebrewUniversity’s exclusive Einstein Award, he will be publicly recognized for his philanthropy, global leadership and technological vision.
The Gates Foundation leads the way in fighting world hunger and tackling problems created by climate change and population growth in the 21st century. These same challenges form the core of the mission of the HebrewUniversity’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences.
In keeping with a new vision for this research in the 21st century, Faculty departments are undergoing a reorganization to form an interdisciplinary four-institute model. Each Institute will bring together teams of scientists to expand food supplies, develop functional, nutrient-enriched foods and grains, to promote plant-derived treatments for diseases such as malaria, and to bring pioneering clean water technologies to countries facing severe shortages in the coming years. The HebrewUniversity maintains a Division of External Studies that educates international students from more than 150 countries, exporting agricultural and environmental knowledge to societies near and far.
For further information, contact:
Rebecca Zeffert, Dept. of Media Relations, the HebrewUniversity, tel: 02-588-1641, cell: 054-882-0661
or Orit Sulitzeanu, HebrewUniversity spokesperson, tel: 02-5882910, cell: 054-882-0016.
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