Entrepreneurship faculty

Eyal Benjamin

Eyal Benjamin is yet another natural entrepreneur. He has founded two companies, Kito Marcom, Ltd, a technological education company, and Freenet Communications, Ltd., an ISP. Eyal also served as CEO for both companies. After filling the position of VP of Marketing and Business Development for a Venture Capital Fund, Eyal moved on to establish a new software start-up which he developed during his studies at ISEMI. Eyal graduated from Tel Aviv University with a degree in Engineering, and has also completed one year of MBA studies at Bar-Ilan. Eyal expects to formulate the large amount of knowledge and experience he has acquired to an ordered methodology at ISEMI. Furthermore, he would like to "fill in the gaps" of his knowledge in regards to the creation and management of new ventures. He feels that ISEMI would be an ideal environment to achieve both goals, while still pursuing his career. Eyal thought, when his first start-up "crashed" that he would never do something on his own again. He soon discovered, however, that "once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur," and has been searching for ways to continue to create new ventures, which happened sooner than he thought. Eyal is the perfect example of the ideal ISEMI entrepreneur; a new venture creator, who has gone through the good times and the bad. He feels that his "creative thinking" is his greatest hobby, an example of creating a career out of what you love. Eyal is looking to move on for a PhD in which he will be able to develop new methodologies in Entrepreneurship Research. Eyal feels that he can contribute a great amount of knowledge and experience to his fellow students, while also hoping that he can learn a great deal from them. Eyal has stated his studies at ISEMI in 2002 and has been awarded the MEI degree on January 2005. Since 2003 he has been teaching several finance related entrepreneurship courses at ISEMI and has established two more ventures.

Reto Callegari

Dr Reto Callegari is Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of ADVAL CIC (S) PTE, Ltd., a successful financial institution in Singapore, where he functions as an Angel Investor in a wide array of companies. Hailing from Switzerland and with an impressive resume of Banking Activities, Dr. Callegari, already quite an expert in Asian enterprises, decided to make that area of the world his home. Dr. Callegari worked at Credit Suisse in both Zurich and Geneva, and filled positions of great responsibility including acting as a member of the management team in directing expansion into Asia, serving on the board of ECOTEC, the Euro-China Organization for Technical and Economic Co-operation and holding the positions of Head of Private, Institutional Banking and Trading and Head of the International Department for Corporate Trade and Finance. He also served as Member of the Executive Committee, Chairman of Credit Suisse Investment Consulting Ltd. in Taiwan and as Member of the Executive Board and CEO in Asia Pacific. Prior to his work at the bank, Dr Callegari served on the National Research Council of Thailand as a Foreign Researcher. Today, at ADVAL in Singapore, Dr. Callegari directs investments in new ventures and offers consulting/management services for start-up companies and investors. He acts as an investment advisor and as a member of various Boards of Directors. The Chairman of the International Advisory Panel of Suntec Labs, he also served as a lecturer and mentor at a number of business seminars and universities in Asia, Europe and Israel. Dr. Callegari received his undergraduate degree at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, and graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He completed his Ph.D. work with Honors in Economic Geography at the University of Zurich. Now dedicated to lecturing at ISEMI on a regular basis, Dr. Callegari found us, and we him, in a very interesting way. While attending a Technopreneurship Conference in Singapore, sponsored by Swinborne University, Dr. Callegari met Professor Liora Katzenstein, who asked him to join the ISEMI team. The gain has been all ours.

Amos Eiran

Amos Eiran has been a major presence in the business, financial and political realm in Israel and the United States for more than 40 years. After decades in business, academia & government, Mr. Eiran turned his energies to serve on the board of a number of major companies in Israel & abroad. Mr. Eiran holds a BA from the American University in Washington, DC, an MA from Tel Aviv University, a Diploma in Business Administration from Harvard University and a Diploma from the Wharton Business School. Mr. Eiran served as president of Haifa University, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Governors of The Ben-Gurion University and of Netanya College . Mr. Eiran has held numerous appointments as a senior guest lecturer in major universities worldwide, where he dealt with world economic and financial issues. He often participates as an invited commentator on Israeli TV and radio, evaluating political and economic developments. Previously, Mr. Eiran held prominent government positions as the Director General of the Prime Minister’s office in Israel under Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman of the Government of Israel in the Industrial Cooperation Authority (RASHPAT). He also worked as a Counselor at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. In the financial world, Mr. Eiran has served as the Director General and Chairman of the Board of Mivtahim Pension Funds, Israel’s largest pension fund, and a Director on the Board of Bank Hapoalim and Bank Mizrachi (UMTB). He is also one of the founders of XTL Bio Pharma, and a member of its Board. He also serves as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania in Israel.

Shoshana Emmanuel

Ms. Shoshana Emmanuel specializes in teaching discourse analysis and literacy for academic purposes in English, Hebrew, and French. Her courses provide the students with the tools to analyze articles while identifying their structure, major arguments, and purpose. Ms. Emmanuel completed her studies for the M.A. in English and French at Tel Aviv University. She further studied in those departments at the University of Geneva, at the Goldman Institute for Business Communication in Geneva and at the Sorbonne University in Paris.

Michael Epstein

With a strong background in sciences including a B.Sc. in Chemistry, an M.Sc. in Physical Chemistry, a Ph.D. from the Weizman Institute in Biochemistry, and a post doctorate fellowship at Cornell University, Dr. Mike Epstein decided to augment his training with a formal entrepreneurship education . He came to study at ISEMI and was granted a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Since garnering his degree, Dr. Epstein has deepened his involvement with the institution and now acts as the Program Director of the master degree studies as well as a lecturer on a number of topics. Prof. Epstein has amassed a great deal of experience "in the real world", as well. He served as a visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. USA, and was appointed Senior Scientist at Rogoff-Welcome Research Institute at the Beilinson Hospital. Interested in combining his science know-how with business, Dr. Epstein moved to Isolab, Inc, a medical and agricultural diagnostics company of 100 employees in Akron Ohio, where he was a member of the management team in charge of business development. Returning to Israel, he was named Deputy Head of a Holding Group in charge of Biotech for Ampal, American Israel Corporation, where he also served as a board member of subsidiaries and CEO of Tayco Diagnostics and Pharma Clal and increased sales by 35% and profit by 25%, despite an overall drop in the industry over the same period. Dr. Epstein was also involved in health care institutes as co-founder, partner and CEO of Libit Cardiac Health Institutes, Ltd., and CEO of Hilla Dental Health Institutes, Ltd. At Hilla, Dr. Epstein took a twelve million dollar business of 12 dental clinics with a long record of losses, and turned it into a profitable business. Prof. Epstein struck out on his own and founded "Machshava", a hi tech business consulting firm which dealt mostly with companies in the field of biotech, and consulted on the many business and professional aspects of the field. Prof. Epstein is presently involved in BioTargeting Ltd. and D4all Ltd. as the cofounding entrepreneur and CEO. The former is a startup company dealing with novel X-ray and ultrasound imaging, while the latter is a startup concerned with internet trading. Prof. Epstein also has his hands in real estate with the Chen Hasharon project - a self-owned project of 42 town houses for which Prof. Epstein has full responsibility.

Samuel Frankel

Dr. Samuel Frankel's wide areas of expertise include a wide array of aspects of financial management. Today a successful economic and financial consultant, he garnered his experience through a number of high-level positions: Dr. Frankel carried out the establishing operations of a Cross Borders Leasing Corporation in Alamaty Kazakhstan for the C.I.S. countries. Later he was responsible for conducting a feasibility study and for securing funds for the MIDOR Refinery, in Alexandria Egypt. During 1998 -1999 he was part of the team conducting the Due Diligence as well as soliciting investors for the privatization of the Armenian Yeravan Electricity Companies for the Government of Armenia, as part of the World Bank activity. Prior to that, Dr. Frankel founded Genmedix, a generic drug corporation, and was responsible for establishing cost, financial reporting and marketing contracts for Genmedix. During 1991-94, at the Meuchedet Health Fund, he served as a Medical Division Economist, while at Kupat Holim Leumit, he was responsible for preparing the recovery plan and subsequent follow-up with relevant authorities toward the ministry of Health and Treasury if Israel. Dr. Frankel was a Senior Economist and member of the Executive Management of the Israel Corporation, where he was responsible for the analysis and preparation of company mergers acquisitions. Before that he served as the Deputy Director of Investments and Treasurer of Migdal Insurance Company, Where he was responsible for the cash flow of the company as well as for investment in various securities, debentures and loans. During 1980-85 he worked at Israel Discount Bank, preparing working papers for the bank's senior management regarding Euromarket interests and exchange rate fluctuations, new public and private offerings, evaluating and operating procedures with large Banks clients and reviewed the bank's financial spreads. Dr. Frankel was awarded a B.A. in Economy, with a minor in Mathematics and Information and Computer Science from Georgia State University. He earned his M.B.A. and Ph.D. at the School of Business Administration at the same institution.

Amir Freund

Amir Freund completed a B.Sc. at the Technion in Haifa in the framework of the IDF Academic Reserve program, and then joined the Mamdas unit of the Israel Air Force, which is responsible for software development for IAF avionic and radar systems. Amir remained in the IAF until 1991, including three years as part of the IAF project management team developing the MMRS Radar System at Norden Technologies in Connecticut, and then helping with the development and testing of the system in Israel. Amir then began accumulating knowledge of Wireless systems: for four years he was software group manager for a telecom company in Herzliya, working on Wireless Local Loop (WLL) development; and for two years he was project manager for another telecom company in Petach Tikva, where he managed the development of a WLL Personal Communication System for the US market.

Equipped with this thorough experience, in 1996 Amir became co-founder of Floware Wireless Systems, where he acted as VP R&D, involved in many aspects of company strategy. The company has grown into a world leader in broadband wireless communication with over 300 employees, and taken public in NASDAQ in 1999 (FLRE). Subsequently it merged with Breezcom Ltd. and became Alvarion (ALVR). Amir says he now wants to take some time out and add to his education with a masters degree in business. While ISEMI is proud of the practical, hands-on experience it offers its students, interestingly enough many who register for the MEI course are seeking to back up their existing practical experience with theoretical knowledge, and Amir is clearly in this category. He will doubtless have a great deal to contribute to his sessions at ISEMI.

Murray Gilin

(PhD(Cantab), MEd(Hons) (Melb), MEngSc (Melb), BMetEng (Hons) (Melb), ASMB(Ballarat), FTS, FIEAust, FAIM, FACE, FWACE) Murray Gillin's professional career has covered a broad spectrum beginning as an engineer with the Defence Industry with subsequent appointments to positions of Research Scientist with the Defence Science & Technology Organisation, Defence Research Attaché at the Australian Embassy in Washington, USA, Senior Principal Research Scientist in Defence Science, Canberra. In 1979 he was appointed Dean of Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. As Dean of Engineering he developed the Engineering Faculty into Australia's largest and most successful compulsory work-integrated-learning program and in 1989 he formed the School of Innovation and Enterprise. In January 1994 he was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology. His research interests cover the development of high-performance carbon-fibre-reinforced composites, evaluation of cooperative education and the process of innovation and entrepreneurship in managing growing enterprises. He currently directs several research programs with some 18 PhD candidates. The development of innovative programs within the Graduate School of Entrepreneurship have contributed significantly to the range of quality programs offered to educate entrepreneurial managers. These programs are recognised as world leaders in the development of relevant entrepreneurial education and have been offered in Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia and Indonesia. His professional qualifications include - Fellow, Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Fellow, The Institution of Engineers, Australia, Fellow, Australian Institute of Management, Fellow, Australian College of Education, Fellow, World Association for Cooperative Education, Member, Australian Institute of Physics, Senior Member, American Institute for Mining and Metallurgy and Foundation Member, Australian Academy of Design. In 1997 Prof. Gillin was awarded the "Order of Australia" by the Australian Government and in 2001 he was nominated as "The Entrepreneurship Educator of The Year".

David Goldman, Esq.

Mr. Goldman has vast law and economic experience, both in education and in law. He is a graduate of three programs at Hebrew University in Jerusalem; a BA in Accounting and Economics, a LL.B (jointly with the BA), and he received his LL.M in 1999. Mr. Goldman has worked as an assistant to the president of the Municipal Court in Jerusalem, and as an Attorney for a private law office, as well as for the Tel Aviv District Attorney's office (both in the fiscal field). He is currently a partner dealing primarily in tax law in a prominent law firm in Tel Aviv. Mr. Goldman's teaching experience includes several prestigious institutions such as the Interdisciplinary Center for Law in Herzelia, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the University of Haifa. Mr. Goldman has also written several articles in professional journals (such as Taxes, The Accountant, and Knowledge to Information) on fiscal and legal issues.

Adolph M. Hanich

Adolph Hanich is at present the director of the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship at Swinburne University of Technology. He was the founder and principal of Fairhaven Associates Pty Ltd a strategy consulting practice. Prior to starting his own practice, he was a senior partner with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu - Asia, one of the global "big five" professional firms, where he was involved in a leadership capacity in both management consulting and corporate advisory work. Over the last twenty years he has consulted to a wide cross section of Australia's major business and public sector enterprises. Originally trained as a chemical engineer, he switched to a management career and had some twelve years experience as a corporate executive in several major multi-nationals, before joining the consulting profession. Adolph Hanich has been a pracademic at Swinburne since 1994, has also taught at Monash University and has been a guest lecturer at RMIT and Melbourne Business School. Over the years he has been involved in the start up (and shut down) of a number of enterprises. He has been a Director of numerous companies and is currently chairman of several Boards.

Mark Harrigan

Dr. Mark Harrigan has extensive practical experience with the business of creativity and innovation having brought new products to the market in a wide variety of industries. He is an accomplished facilitator and workshop and seminar presenter. Voted "Speaker of the Year" in 1999 by The Executive Connection, an international organisation of CEO's. Dr Harrigan has been personally trained and accredited by Dr Edward de Bono, the inventor of the term "Lateral Thinking", to teach and use his techniques and is Australia's most experienced trainer in this area Dr Harrigan has a diverse background covering R&D, Manufacturing, Marketing and Corporate & Business Strategy. He holds a Ph.D. in Atomic Physics from Melbourne University and began his professional career with Kodak Australasia, as an R&D scientist and manager and then as a National Divisional Marketing Manager. Prior to establishing his consulting business he was the Manager of Business Innovation at Invetech, a leading Australian consulting firm to the manufacturing industry. Dr Harrigan lectures in Strategy at the Company Director's Course for the Australian Institute of Company Directors and runs a course in Innovation at the Israel School of Entrepreneurial Management and Innovation and at the Swinburne Graduate School of Management's Masters of Enterprise Innovation. He is also Strategy Director of a $30 million turnover food manufacturer and Chairman of a small computer services company. Dr Harrigan's client list includes BHP, BTR Nylex, CSR, KPMG, McDonalds, Pacific Dunlop, Reckitt & Colman, Southcorp, and Yellow Pages Australia, as well as several smaller enterprises and a range of government organisations and utilities.

Ehud Hausman

Ehud Hausman obtained his M.Sc. in Computer Sciences from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, (1989). Obtained his LLB from Herzelia Interdisciplinary center 2001 and was admitted to practice before the Israel Patent Office in 1993. Mr. Hausman is a member of the Committee of the AIPPI (Israel Group) and the Committee for Considering the Introduction of Semiconductor Topography Protection Law. He is also a member of the Association of Israel Patent Attorneys. Mr. Hausman is a senior partner of the firm and is in charge of the hi- tech group. Mr. Hausman lectures at seminars for the firm's clients, which include multinational companies operating in Israel. He is a guest lecturer at the Herzelia Interdisciplinary center, The Technion, Bar- Ilan University and ISEMI.

Bill Jarrard

CMS, CQMC, ASM Mr. Bill Jarrard is the Chief Imagineer of Mindwerx International P/L. He is an experienced consultant. With more than twenty five years exposure to a variety of industries in Canada, the UK, and Australia, he is able to advise in Organizational Change, Continuous Improvement, Deliberate Creative Thinking and Strategies for Innovation. Bill has held senior executive roles in Human Resources, Finance, Facilities Management, Security, and Computer Operations. Prior to forming his own company in 1991, he was a member of the senior executive team of an Information Technology unit with 1800 people, and led the introduction of change using a Total Quality Management approach. During this time he trained hundreds of people and facilitated dozens of action teams that over an eighteen-month period dramatically improved service quality and reduced costs by almost fifteen Million dollars! Since then he has worked with a wide variety of large and small clients on major improvement activities that have reaped significant benefits, including one Australian Quality Award winner and two Defense Quality Award winners. Bill is an accomplished trainer/ facilitator in Deliberate Creative Thinking and is one of only a handful of people in Australia accredited by the de Bono Institute. He is a certified Quality Management Consultant with quality society of Australia, and is a certified Management consultant with the institute of Management consultants. In addition, Bill is a qualified administrator of the Myers - Briggs Type Indicator and an experienced Quality Systems Auditor. Bill is an active participant in the world of Creativity, Continuous Improvement and Innovation, and has spoken on these subjects in many private and public forums. He is an Accredited Speaking Member with the National Speakers Association, a graduate of the Australian Graduate School of Management, and a Fellow of the Williamson Leadership Program.

Liora Katzenstein

ISEMI Founder & President Professor Katzenstein's involvement with early-stage technology enterprises spans more than two decades, and includes roles as an investor, advisor, active board member, and founder of a number of successful ventures. As founder of Forum International (an Israeli business development consultancy), she was actively involved in establishing strategic partnerships between Israeli companies and firms in Asia and the US and provision of strategic advice and fund raising support for Israeli technology start-ups. As a partner in Consulta Associates, an international consulting firm with an active network of affiliates in North America, Europe and the Far East, she assisted foregn companies in evaluating and entering the Israeli market. Prof. Katzenstein's main focus in her academic endeavors has been entrepreneurship education. In addition to numerous publications, she has lectured widely this topic at most of Israel's universities and management training institutions, leading public enterprises and major technology based corporations. Since 1996, she has served as the founding president of ISEMI – The Institute for the Study of Entrepreneurship and Management of Innovation. As head of ISEMI’s founding team, Liora led the initiative of bringing to Israel the unique Masters of Enterpreneurship and Innovation (MEI) program that had been developed at Swinburne University of Technology. Prior to founding ISEMI, Liora served as Associate Dean of the Tel Aviv International School of Management (a private graduate management school). Prof. Katzenstein holds a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University, and a PhD in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies at the University of Geneva. She was awarded a visiting doctoral scholarship to the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. Prof. Katzenstein has served as a director of several public and private companies, including Clal Industries & Investments (one of Israel's largest holding companies), Discount Issuers Ltd. (Israel's third largest bank), Amanet (one of the largest consulting companies), Bezeq Globe (a subsidiary of Israel's largest telecommunications company), Degem Ltd (a leading Israeli high tech company) as well as RIT, RadWare and RadVision (NASDAQ traded high tech firms) and Clal Insurance (Israel's largest insurance company).

Haim Levy, Esq.

After over fifteen years of a successful academic career as a scientist and Medical Research lecturer at leading universities, Haim Levy began a career in business. Dr. Levy has held a number of top managerial positions, including Deputy Managing Director of Yeda Ltd., the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he was responsible for identifying and evaluating novel R&D technologies for commercial exploitation. A member of the Teva-Yeda Fund, and of the Weizmann Institute Patent Committee, Mr. Levy also served as a Special Consultant to the Director General of the Ministry of Science and Technology and was responsible for reviewing and evaluating the research projects funded in collaboration with the European Community. Mr. Levy scouted, evaluated and performed due diligence on a number of Hi-Tech business opportunities on behalf of investors and Venture Capital Funds. Levy founded and managed Hi-Tech Companies, including Agrilab, a biotech company, which he managed until the firm's merger with a larger company. He founded and served on the board of NESS, a company that developed a unique medical device, and managed the company from registration through financing, private placement, product development, FDA approval, patents, governmental grants, Approved Enterprise status, and setting up a marketing network. Dr. Levy is Chairman of the Board of Repromedix Corp., a young American Diagnostics Company now in the process of expanding its operation and is Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Be-4 Ltd.- a Start Up company in the field of 3-D Acoustic Environment. Dr. Levy holds an M.Sc. in Microbiology and Immunology as well as a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and an LLB from Tel Aviv University. He studied Business Administration at the Technion in Haifa. Dr. Levy has published over 25 papers and reviews, and has lately being admitted to the Israeli Bar Association.

Richard Linowes

Prof. Linowes, today a full professor at the Kogod School of Business at the American University in Washington DC as well as a visiting professor to the Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management at the University of Warsaw, ISEMI and the University of Jordan, received his doctorate in business management from the Harvard Business School and has continued to pursue his interest in academia through teaching, research and presentations in universities around the globe. A veteran of Goldman Sachs and Company, Arthur Andersen and personal consultant to businesses as diverse as Glaxo, Coopers and Lybrand, Baltimore Sun, the Russian Parliament and small business owners as well as the United States' National Institute of Standards and Technology, Prof. Linowes, has accumulated a wealth of management experience to share with his students. Prof. Linowes research interests lie in the areas of global strategic thinking, building leaders for a global economy, innovative approaches to empowering people with regard to management, quality management and organizational design and American and Japanese bicultural work-teams; with regard to teaching, his interests include teaching in the multicultural classroom, managing small businesses in the developing world, business ethics, goalsetting, organizational behavior and strategic management. After participating in a program in Japan designed to expose westerners to Japanese management styles early in his career, Richard Linowes has done a great deal of work on introducing the different cultures to each other and helping each learn from the other. He has written and refereed papers on a multitude of business and management topics and has presented lectures to many prestigious audiences around the globe. Prof. Linowes is listed in many biographical directories including, "International Who's Who of Intellectuals" "International Who's Who of Professionals" "Who's Who Registry of Global Business Leaders" "Who's Who in Finance and Industry" and "Who's Who in American Education". During his career, he has garnered a number of prestigious awards including a Fulbright Research Award, Outstanding Faculty Member award and Curriculum Development Award. ISEMI students are sure to profit from the wealth of knowledge and experience Prof. Linowes brings to our institution.

Oded Melnik

Mr. Oded Melnik, the managing director of MELNIK ODED Business Advisory Ltd., is providing a broad spectrum of financial advisory services to clients in Israel and overseas. Oded and his team of skilled economists are specializing in companies valuations, M&A advisory, fairness opinions, economic reports and business plans compilation. Melnik Ltd. also provides day-to-day management services to a French real estate company for its income-bearing investments in Israel and assists foreign investors in scoping out investment opportunities in Israel. Prior to founding Melnik Ltd., Mr. Oded Melnik gained experience while subcontracting at the investment firm of Singer Barnea & Co. for business valuations and economic reports compilation. Prior to that, Mr. Melnik worked as a consultant to Singaporean Authorities in Command & Control and system engineering areas. Mr. Melnik served 21 years in the Israeli Navy and retired as Commander. For more than half of his military service period, Mr. Melnik managed large scale Command & Control and integration developmental projects. Mr. Melnik holds a B.Sc. degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and a MBA degree (majoring in Finance and International Management), both from the Tel Aviv University. Mr. Oded Melnik is also applying his academic skills as a lecturer on finance in ISEMI, the Israeli branch of Swinburne University (Australia) and as business plan instructor in the Tel-Aviv University (MBA Program).

Detlef Reis

Innovation & Creativity Wizard Dr. Reis brings to ISEMI over two decades of of professional and academic experience in the area of Creativity and Innovation coupled with extensive knowledge of the Asian continent. Dr. Reis spent close to a decade working for Deutsche Bank in Asia, before turning his interest to matters of creativity & innovation. Currently, Dr. Reis serves as faculty member at Mahidon University in Bangkok, Thailand, where he is responsible for all subjects pertaining to Innovation & Creativity.

Ben Zion Rubinfeld

Dr. Rubinfeld began his education with a B.Sc. in Agriculture, naturally enough for a kibbutznik who developed and managed date and mango orchards in Kibbutz Grofit, a few kilometers north of Eilat. He later moved into the field of genetics for his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees, all obtained from the Hebrew University. He was twice awarded the Eshkol Foundation prize for academic excellence. For the ten years between obtaining his M.Sc. and his Ph.D., Dr. Rubinfeld worked as a Research Scientist for a number of organizations, on projects relating to various aspects of genetics. However, in 1991 he took a break from pure research work by acting as Director of the Volcani Institute's Science-Oriented Youth Program. In this capacity he developed a program of enrichment activities for high school students and established a sleep-over summer camp program, all with a scientific bias. Since 1994, Dr. Rubinfeld has been directly involved with the business world, as Business Development and Technology Transfer Officer of Ramot, theTel-Aviv University organization responsible for transforming academic developments into profitable business ventures. This position has enabled him to acquire valuable hands-on experience on all aspects of establishing start-up companies: negotiating contracts, preparing business plans, fund raising, and so on.In the past few years he has further extended his business activities as Managing Director of Rubicon Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of an American pharmaceutical company, engaged, among other things, on research into human cancer, and development of new drugs, including performing clinical trials.