This is after his appointment was unanimously approved by the plenary of the Senate and the Executive Committee of Tel Aviv University
At the beginning of the month, the search committee for the election of a president, headed by Dr. Liora Meridor, who also serves as the chairman of the executive committee, announced its decision to recommend to the university's senate and the university's executive committee that Prof. Yosef Klifter be the next president of Tel Aviv University.
Today the plenary of the Senate and the executive committee gathered, as the constitution states, to approve the committee's recommendation.
In a speech delivered today to members of the Senate, Prof. Clifter presented his vision and his connection to Tel Aviv University. In his opening remarks, Prof. Clifter emphasized that "the university for me, as for you, is my home. Determination is needed! to work and fix and this is not the work of one person but the joint work of an entire campus. I would not have accepted the position of president without faith in the tremendous potential of our university. I see the president's task as, among other things, continuing to build the academic force. Our strength stems from our faculty of researchers - from its quality. The Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees must now act together for the benefit of the institution and its march forward. The proper checks and balances must be restored to the constitution. I hope that we will leave the Senate meeting for the future of action and construction. Times of severe crisis can be an opportunity to set a great vision. I respectfully appeal to you to put your trust in me today for the success of our university," he said at the end of his speech.
In the document summarizing the action of the search committee for the candidate for the position of the next president as sent to the members of the university senate, on October 2, 2009, it was stated, among other things, that the committee came to the conclusion after a long and exhaustive discussion that "Prof. Yossi Klifter is the chosen candidate. He is a world-renowned scientist and has a clear academic vision, based on academic excellence. The committee came to the conclusion that his personality, his leadership, and his ability to make decisions guarantee that he will be able to fulfill the position successfully and will be able to promote the university to impressive achievements in the years to come."
Prof. Danny Levithan, rector of Tel Aviv University and acting president, said that he was very happy about the choice of Prof. Clifter, who is a world-renowned scientist. "I am sure that Prof. Clifter will bring a lot of respect to the university. I hope that we are embarking on a new path and putting the past behind us" added Prof. Clifter.
Prof. Levitan read the decision of the Senate plenary which was approved unanimously. "The Senate Plenary welcomes the election of the new president, Prof. Yossi Klifter, and wishes him success in his mission to return the university to a path of growth, to improve the funding, achievements and image of higher education and scientific research at Tel Aviv University and in Israel. The Plenary calls on the President and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees to act jointly with the Senate with the aim of promptly amending the University Constitution and changing the composition of the Executive Committee. The Plenary emphasizes the need to allow the senior academic staff to influence the future of the University by expanding the Senate's control powers over the University institutions and the Executive Committee.
Prof. Ron Shamir, member of the search committee, head of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Chair of Bioinformatics and head of the Edmond Y. program. Safra for Bioinformatics noted that Prof. Clifter is a first-rate scientist in the field of physical chemistry who has won many awards for his scientific achievements, including the Weizmann Prize for Science, the Rothschild Prize for Chemistry and the Israel Chemistry Society Prize. Prof. Shamir emphasized that the committee was very impressed by Prof. Clifter's qualities, personality and perception of the essence of the president's role. The vision that Prof. Clifter brings to the presidency sees research excellence as the cornerstone of the university, and the quality of teaching as derived from it. Prof. Shamir added that Prof. Clifter has an excellent familiarity with the entire scientific spectrum, and rich experience in contact with the Council for Higher Education and with government officials who influence the conduct of the university. According to him, the committee was impressed by "his leadership ability, his ability to execute, his way of making decisions and his intellectual depth. His achievements in managing the National Fund were excellent"
Prof. Clifter, a world-renowned expert and first-class scientist in the field of physical chemistry. Served since 2002 as the chairman of the board of the National Science Foundation, the main body supporting research in the State of Israel.
Prof. Clifter completed a bachelor's and master's degree in physics at Bar Ilan University, and a PhD in chemistry at Tel Aviv University, under the guidance of Prof. Yehoshua Yurtner, in 1978. After a post-doctorate in chemistry at MIT, he joined the research and engineering unit of the EXXON company in the USA and worked there for eight years . He joined the faculty of the University's School of Chemistry as a senior lecturer in 1987, was promoted to Associate Professor in 1988 and to Professor Menn Haminin in 1989. From 1998 to 2003 he held the Gordon Chair in Chemistry, and from 2003 he held the Heinemann Chair in Physical Chemistry. Prof. Clifter was the head of the physical chemistry department in 90-92 and again in 98-2002. At the same time, during those periods, he was also the head of the Sackler Institute for Physical Chemistry.
At the same time as his position at the National Science Foundation, Prof. Clifter continued full activity at the university - teaching, research, committee membership - including two years on the university appointments committee - and guiding students. He also participated in national and international committees, including the Research Subcommittee of the Shohat Committee and the Foundation for Biomedical Research, and international committees, among which he served as Israel's representative in the European Science Foundation.
Prof. Clifter is a very prolific researcher who has so far published nearly 400 scientific articles, edited 18 books and is currently finishing writing a book. He guided and supervises 13 PhD students and about ten post-doctoral students. He is a member of the editorial team of six scientific journals, and was a member of scientific committees of dozens of professional conferences.
Prof. Clifter has won many awards for his scientific achievements, including the Weizmann Prize for Science, the Rothschild Prize for Chemistry and the Israel Chemistry Society Prize.
Prof. Clifter will replace Prof. Zvi Galil who resigned from his position last June.
