Dear Friends,
As the world continues to inch its way back to what we hope will be normalcy, for many of us, it has been a time to reconnect with friends and loved ones. For us, this also meant a recent trip to Israel to visit colleagues and students at the Hebrew University.
After two long years of Zoom meetings, to say this trip was inspiring, productive and overdue would be an understatement. We arrived at the university for the first day of school – students were finally back to in-person learning since the pandemic began and the energy on campus was indescribable. We saw the joy on students’ faces, the diversity – young men and women, soldiers, Arabs, Ethiopians, Haredi – all gathered together. It was a true representation of Israel and we felt incredibly lucky to be a part of it.
Some other highlights from our time in Jerusalem:
- We met with President Asher Cohen, VP and CEO Yishai Fraenkel and Yossi Gal, VP for International Relations
- We visited with various units at the university which have been generously funded by our Canadian friends: Asper HUJI-Innovate, the Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies, the Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies, the Brojde Center for Innovative Engineering and Computer Science, the Hebrew Youth University, and the Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC).
- We celebrated the wonderful gift to the Einstein House, a museum and visitors center that will be constructed at HU. We were the catalyst for this project, and are thrilled we could help make it happen.
- We met with Student Ambassador Shirley Lukin and graduate student Ariel Karlinsky, who is a member of the World Health Organization’s expert committee for his research on COVID-19 mortality.
The last highlight of our trip was visiting one of the newest initiatives on campus: the Center for Sustainability. Launched this past spring, the Center was established to increase environmental research and teaching within the university and to promote sustainability projects across Israel and around the world. The Center is not only about environmental awareness: it’s about working together and sowing the seeds for the next generation.
With the end of the year approaching, we thank you for your continued support which is helping us create a better world and inspiring the next generation of leaders.
Sincerely,
