BGU | PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2025

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PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2025

Prof. Miki Malul

"We have an historic responsibility to leverage our increasing excellence in research towards rebuilding the Negev better than before.”

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) has long been at the forefront of research, innovation, and education, but its mission extends beyond the traditional bounds of academia. As a university dedicated to both excellence and social responsibility, BGU embraces its third mandate: to lead the development of the Negev for the benefit of all its residents. In the wake of the horrific events of October 7, this commitment has taken on a new urgency. The devastation of the Western Negev presents not just a challenge but an opportunity – an opportunity for the University to leverage its knowledge, expertise, and deep sense of purpose to drive meaningful and lasting transformation. To achieve a lasting impact, BGU's President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz has sought to align the University's traditional mandate with the concept of a Fifth Wave university

championed by Prof. Michael M. Crow – an institution that directly integrates academic excellence with societal impact. By fostering reciprocal relationships among academia, government, industry, and civil society, BGU can create a self-reinforcing cycle: the more successful its interventions, the more it attracts top-tier researchers and students committed to the Negev’s future. This dynamic, in turn, will strengthen BGU’s standing as a world-class research university with a unique social mission. Building on this understanding, BGU has embarked on its most ambitious initiative yet to catalyze the region’s renewal. Led by Prof. Miki Malul, former Dean of the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, this initiative seeks to harness the University’s resources and pioneering spirit, alongside its extensive existing partnerships, to advance the region economically, socially, and culturally. A recent survey* of perceptions of the