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Dear Friends,
I write to you during the holy days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur — different this year than any other. This week marked the one-year anniversary of October 7th, when our world forever changed. In one day, the world we knew was brutally shattered. A year later, Israel is fighting a war on seven fronts, while 101 innocent souls remain hostage in Gaza and antisemitism abounds globally.
But we have also seen the remarkable resilience of the Israeli people and an awakening in diaspora Jewry — truly Am Yisrael Chai! As Golda Meir said, "Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself," or to put it another way, to be a Jew is to be an optimist. This is nowhere more evident than at Tel Aviv University (TAU), where, despite the hardships imposed by the war, amazing studies, research and innovation abound.
Your involvement with TAU makes you part of Israel's recovery and future of the country. I hope that you feel pride in the accomplishments of every TAU student, researcher, and professor. Their groundbreaking work and lifesaving discoveries are the building blocks for the future of Israel.
TAU continues to shine brightly and lead the world in global entrepreneurship, ranking 7th globally and the only Israeli university to make the top ten, according to the prestigious Pitchbook Ranking. Over the past decade, 893 TAU alumni founded 755 companies, raising $29.8 billion in total capital. These achievements highlight TAU's role in Israel's economic and technological development.
The Buchmann Faculty of Law is the leader among Israeli institutions in students passing the Israel Bar Association bar exam, with 95% of TAU graduates passing the exam and obtaining a law license. The school is a leader in international collaborations and the faculty has been ranked number one in research output outside of the US. The school's famed legal clinics promote social activism and empower the next generation of legal experts and policy makers. Recently, the clinics launched The Network, providing crucial support to the citizens in Israel's South who have been most affected by the events of October 7th.
On the medical front, Professor Uri Ashery led a team of researchers who developed a groundbreaking technology that could revolutionize early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. The discovery has the potential to enable diagnosis up to 15 years before the first symptoms occur. The team brought together researchers from the School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry & Biophysics at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at TAU. Professor Ashery told reporters, "We hope that in coming years it will be possible to offer preventive treatments for family members of Parkinson's patients who are at risk of developing the disease." The research was supported in part by The Aufzien Family Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Parkinson's Disease.
I encourage you to listen to a recent episode of TAU UNBOUND featuring Professor Karen Avraham, the first female dean of TAU's Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. She discusses her research and other exciting innovations in medicine and health with Ambassador Ido Aharoni.
The achievements I've shared help me to be optimistic about the future. With your continued support, we can ensure that TAU remains a center of excellence and major contributor to Israel's resilience and success.
Shana Tova and G'mar Chatima Tova.
Sincerely,
Dr. Garry A. Rayant
Chairman, American Friends of Tel Aviv University
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