BOG 2022: Smolarz Family Building Dedicated

In a warm and emotional ceremony during the Board of Governors meeting, TAU inaugurated the Smolarz Family Building-- a home base to hundreds of students in the Smolarz Family Graduate School in Life Sciences.

The Building, which opened in 2020 as part of TAU’s Wise Faculty of Life Sciences Faculty, provides a physical bridge between the Faculty’s two older buildings, Sherman and Britannia-Porter. It has dramatically improved the University’s ability to train young scientists and professionals in the field. The Building houses four spacious, cutting-edge teaching laboratories in microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, cell biology and other subjects as well as classrooms and meeting rooms that provide opportunities for networking and collaboration. It is the last campus project of Honorary Doctor, and Vice- Chair of the Board of Governors Adolfo Smolarz, who passed away last year.  

Aida Smolarz, daughter of Adolfo and Miriam, a fellow TAU Honorary Doctor who recently celebrated her 102nd birthday, spoke to the guests at the inauguration in an emotional address, thanking all those involved in making the project a reality.

TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat said: “There could have been no more loving and generous friends of TAU and Israel than Adolfo and Miriam, and I’m so happy that Aida and Alberto are here with us today to close the circle and to pay a fitting tribute to the realization of Adolfo’s final project here.” 

The Smolarz family has supported TAU, both on campus and in Argentina, for close to 40 years. Their long history of support includes major projects such as the Miriam & Adolfo Smolarz Auditorium, which has served as the University’s premier event venue since 2005; the Smolarz Graduate School in Life Sciences; the Gitter-Smolarz Library; and a floor named in honor of their late son, Pablo, at the Buchmann Faculty of Law building. 

“The Building will serve new generations of students who will go on to become leading researchers, innovators and professionals in Israel and globally in the life sciences field,” said Prof. Marcelo Ehrlich, Vice Dean of the Faculty. “Every day at this faculty, in this building, we see the fruits of Adolfo Smolarz’s vision and generosity—the impact that will continue to perpetuate itself.”  

Guests were treated to a musical performance by students from TAU’s Buchmann-Mehta School of Music students, and viewed a moving video about the Building, which was prepared for Adolfo and Miriam when it first opened in 2020, under COVID-19 restrictions.  

We note with great sadness that since the original publication of this article, Miriam Smolarz passed away.