BGU&U | SPRING 2022

(res.) Amos Yadlin, former head of IDF Military Intelligence and decorated fighter pilot; and the Beer-Sheva Theater, a key cultural institution serving Negev residents for 50 years. Addressing BGU at the ceremony, President Herzog described the University as “the manifestation of David Ben Gurion’s entire being – his vision and his actions: Zionism, knowledge, research, social action, and the Negev.” Then, turning to the award recipients, he concluded, “If there is the full fulfillment of first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s forward thinking, ambitious vision – it is embodied in your actions.”

The Awards honored ten individuals or organizations from across sectors, ethnicities, and cultures in the presence of guest of honor, President of Israel Isaac Herzog, in his first official visit to BGU. The honorees were Dr. Efrat Bron-Harlev, CEO of Schneider Children’s Medical Center; Adv. Mina Kalman Haddad, member of the Beer-Sheva city council and founder of its Department of Volunteerism; Reda Masarwa, the first Arab vice president of Intel Corporation; Yosef Mizrahi, professor emeritus of BGU’s Department of Life Sciences and trailblazer in Israeli agriculture; Shuli Moalem-Refaeli, a former MK and advocate for IDF widows and orphans; Prof. Bracha Rager, former chief scientist at Israel’s Health Ministry and co-founder of BGU’s Faculty of Health Sciences; Dr. Ron Sabar, founder of Israel’s largest home hospital service and the largest physician based home hospital service in the world; Gabriel Tamman, z”l, an Egyptian-born Swiss philanthropist; Maj. Gen.

President Herzog described the University as “the manifestation of David Ben-Gurion’s entire being – his vision and his actions: Zionism, knowledge,

research, social action, and the Negev.”

Yet, as President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz noted at this year’s conferment ceremony, they confirm something else as well: “Anything is possible when we take bold action to forge a new reality.” The 2021 Ben-Gurion Awards, granted on BGU’s Marcus Family Campus on November 11, were preceded by the national memorial ceremony at Ben-Gurion’s grave in Sde Boker.

President of Israel Isaac Herzog was a guest of honor at the Ben Gurion Award Ceremony. Photo: Shay Shmueli

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