BOG 2016: Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research

For the second year running the Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research was presented to four TAU researchers at the Second Assembly of the Board of Governors, moderated by Chairman of the Board Prof Jacob A. Frankel. Representing the Naomi Foundation was Nadav Kadar, Vice President of the Naomi Prawer Kadar Foundation.

The Kadar Family Award was created by a donation from the Naomi Foundation, which honors the memory of Naomi Prawer Kadar, PhD, a lifelong educator and specialist in Yiddish children’s literature, and the late wife of Dr. Avraham Kadar and mother of Maya Kadar Kovalsky, Nadav Kadar, and Einat Kadar. The Kadar family is a long-time benefactor of TAU.

The Award is divided into two categories – the sciences and the humanities – with prizes for senior and junior researchers.

TAU President Joseph Klafter said, “This award is about pioneering spirit. It honors outstanding research and teaching in all fields across the campus.” The Kadar family and TAU have a close friendship noted Prof. Klafter. “The Kadars are educators and business people, and as such their relationship with TAU is very fitting. We thank the Board of the Naomi Prawer Kadar Foundation, represented here today by Nadav Kadar and send greetings and appreciation also to Dr. Avraham Kadar, Maya Kadar Kovalsky and Einat Kadar, all of whom are TAU alumni.”

TAU Vice President for Research and Development introduced the recipients:

Prof. Ady Arie of the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, a researcher in nano-photonics, non-linear optics and higher resolution electron microscopy; Prof. Shiri Arstein-Avidan of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, whose work in geometry in high dimension has applications in computer science, statistical physics and more; Prof. Gal Oestreicher-Singer of the Coller School of Management, who develops business models that enable websites to improve their profitability by engaging users in social media; and Prof. Eyal Benvenisti of the Buchmann Faculty of Law, who was unable to attend, whose work examines the concept of sovereignty and explores the possible moral and legal grounds for requiring states to accommodate the interests of individuals and communities in other countries when formulating policy.

Ms. Lindsey Bodner, Executive Director of the Naomi Foundation, said “the Kadar Award recipients embody our values as a foundation. As leaders in their fields, they innovate through education, and as committed professors and teachers at TAU, they are passing both their groundbreaking work and their spirit of discovery on to the next generation.”

Nadav Kadar shakes hands with prize recipient Prof. Ady Arie. Also pictured are, from right: TAU President Joseph Klafter, Chairman of the Board of Governors Jacob A. Frenkel and Vice President for Research and Development Yoav Henis

The Kadar family legacy is rich and diverse, led by Dr. Kadar, a physician and educator. Through the Naomi Foundation, the Kadar family supports the Naomi Prawer Kadar International Yiddish Summer Program, the Global Research and Training Fellowship (GRTF) in Medical and Life Sciences, and more recently, a fund for the recruitment of Yiddish professors, the Yiddish Faculty Project. The Kadar family also supports a fund for encouraging women to take MBA degrees, Kadar Scholarships for Women in Business and Entrepreneurship.

The Kadar Family Award recipients are evaluated by an impartial committee based on the recipients’ singular contributions to their field of specialization and society and their academic prominence – they present at prestigious international conferences and publish in the best journals.