President Rivlin and Minister of Science Akunis signed the appointment of Prof. Hershkovitz as the chairman of the National Council for Research and Development. Minister of Science Akonis: "Brings a unique combination of familiarity with the world of academia and government"
Rabbi Prof. Daniel Hershkovitz was appointed this week by President Reuven Rivlin and Minister of Science and Technology Ofir Akunis to serve as chairman of the National Council for Research and Development. Prof. Hershkowitz, who recently finished his term as president of Bar Ilan University and even previously served as Minister of Science and Technology himself, agreed to the offer and thanked Minister Akunis for choosing him for the position.
Minister of Science Ofir Akunis: "Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz brings to the position a unique combination of the world of academia and research with an in-depth knowledge from the inside of the world of government and policy. This combination makes him particularly worthy and suitable for the role. I wish him great success in leading the council forward and am happy that he accepted my request."
The National R&D Council operates by virtue of law and serves as the strategic thinking arm of the government. The role of the council is to examine the existing research and development systems in Israel and map their needs and their strengths and weaknesses. The council recommends to the government a national policy on research and development issues, produces reports and conducts surveys on the state of science and research in Israel as a tool for achieving national goals.
Among the topics the council deals with: government research and development, research and development in research institutes, chief scientists, research infrastructures, academia-industry relations, energy, space, cyber, life sciences and international research and development relations. The council has 15 members who are elected to their public position on the basis of their academic, research, economic and organizational background and has ten sub-committees.
Prof. Hershkowitz (65) was born in Haifa and is a professor of mathematics at the Technion. Until recently he served as the president of Bar-Ilan University, and before that he was the Minister of Science and Technology, and a Member of Knesset in the 18th Knesset. In addition to his academic education, he acquired a Torah education at the Merkaz Rabbi yeshiva in Jerusalem and received rabbinical ordination. He did his military service in the intelligence corps and graduated with the rank of major. Prof. Hershkowitz is married to Shimonah, father of five children and grandfather of 11 grandchildren.
