Prof. Aron Shai

Prof. Aron Shai is the Rector of Tel-Aviv University and the incumbent of the Shoul N. Eisenberg Chair for East Asian Affairs. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford, St. Antony's College in 1972. He is the founder and the first Chairman of the Department of East Asian Studies. He also served as the Chairman of the History Department and the Vice-Rector. He was Guest, Visiting or Adjunct Professor at:

• St. Antony's College, Oxford, England;
• University of Toronto, Canada;
• Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, at the Fondation de la Maison des Sciences de L'Homme and at the Quai d'Orsay, Paris, France;
• East-Asian Institute, Columbia University, New York, USA;
• Salzburg Seminar, Austria.
• University of Oxford, the Bertelsmann Europaeum Visiting Professor of Twentieth Century Jewish Politics and History, Mansfield College;
• New York University, Departments of Israel Studies and Education.

At Tel-Aviv University he served as member of various committees, e.g. the Nominations Committee and the Libraries Committee. He has been Chairman of the History Curriculum Committee, Ministry of Education. In 2007 he was appointed by the Government as a member of Israel's Council for Higher Education. He served as a board member of several universities and colleges in Israel.

Previously, he served as Director in two insurance Companies, the Israel Phoenix Assurance Company Ltd. and at ICIC – The Israel Credit Insurance Company Ltd. His Publications include academic books and novels:

1. Origins of the War in the East: Britain, China, Japan 1937-1939. Croom Helm, London, 1976.
2. China in International Affairs 1840-1990. Zmora, Bitan, Modan Publishers (in Hebrew), Tel- Aviv, 1981 (second printing, 1987; second edition, 1990).
3. Britain and China 1941-1947: Imperial Momentum. Macmillan, London with St. Antony's College, Oxford, 1984.
4. The Fate of British and French Firms in China 1949-54 - Imperialism Imprisoned, Macmillan, London with St. Antony's College, Oxford, 1996. Translated into Chinese and published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, (Beijing, 2004) See below.
5. Twentieth Century China, Ministry of Defense, Israel (in Hebrew), Tel-Aviv, 1998.
6. Ying Fa Zai Hua Qi Ye de Ming Yun – Bei Jian Ya de Guo Zhu Yi (The Fate of British and French Firms in China - Imperialism Imprisoned), in Chinese (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China, 2004)
7. The Biography of Zhang Xue-liang, The General who Never Fought (2008).
8. Benhazar - a historical novel, (Am Oved, Tel-Aviv, 1990).
9. Mano - a historical novel, (Zmora, Bitan, Publishers Tel-Aviv, 1998).

He edited several additional historical books. Since 1974 he has published over 70 articles and reviews in academic journals and newspapers and participated in conferences presenting over 65 research papers in 20 different countries.