Shabbat Shalom after an incredible week!
Dear Friends,
I'm still trying to catch my breath after this week's extraordinary Board of Governors meeting. With over 150 participants joining us from abroad, it was our largest gathering in recent memory. After the past three years, during which traveling to Israel was not always an easy decision, seeing so many friends back on campus, together with many new faces, was particularly meaningful.
One of the highlights for me came when our governors walked through the new Ernest Scheller, Jr. Gate of Innovation onto the North Campus. In 2019, at my first Board meeting as president, I stood on stage and described what I imagined when I looked out at that empty stretch of desert: laboratories, classrooms, and a gateway connecting the university to Beer-Sheva and our Advanced Technologies Park. This week, nobody needed to imagine that gateway. They walked through it.
That moment captures something remarkable about the past several years. We have turned plans into reality, even as the world around us seemed determined to make those plans impossible.
Six years ago, we launched The Way Forward, our ambitious $1 billion campaign. I remember the skepticism that greeted such an audacious target for a university in Beer-Sheva. Yet we concluded this week's Board meeting having passed 75% of our goal, and I have no doubt that we will not only reach a billion dollars, but far surpass it.
But The Way Forward was never really about the money. The billion dollars was a way to articulate the scale of our ambitions, not the ambition itself. We wanted to transform BGU into a stronger research university, with the academic excellence, infrastructure, and resources necessary to shape the future of the Negev and Israel.
And that transformation is happening. Over the past eight years, we have recruited more than 100 new faculty members, achieved record student enrollment, and become Israel's leading university in industrial research collaborations. Perhaps most significantly, our growth in research performance, as measured by the Council for Higher Education, has outpaced every other Israeli university. Around us, new buildings are rising, new academic programs are taking shape, and an increasingly ambitious university is emerging.
Of course, none of this occurred under normal circumstances. There were many opportunities to retreat, to delay investments, or to explain why the timing was simply wrong.
We chose to keep building.
In my opening address, I spoke about what has made this possible: our commitment to working "above the line." Rather than focusing on what prevents us from acting, we ask what we can do, what we can change, and what responsibility we must take. It is a philosophy that my dear friend and colleague Tal Ben-Haim, of blessed memory, helped embed in the culture of our university. Tal's absence was deeply felt throughout this week's meetings, and much of what we celebrated was made possible by his leadership.
The Board also ratified my appointment for a third and final term as president. I am deeply grateful for this expression of confidence, particularly at a moment when BGU has so much momentum. As I told the governors, my goal over the next four years is not to start something new, but to ensure that the changes we have made become a permanent part of the university's academic and institutional culture. We have accomplished a great deal, but there is much more to do.
Most of all, I left this week's meetings reminded of something I have said repeatedly over the years: our greatest strength is the power of together. None of these achievements belongs to any one person. They are the result of the extraordinary work of our faculty, students, and staff, and the commitment of friends and supporters who have believed in this university, even when circumstances gave them every reason to be cautious.
For those who joined us, thank you for being part of such a memorable week. And for those who could not attend, I invite you to watch some of the highlights. Especially watch the last 30 seconds to capture the spirit of our closing dance party!
I began my presidency imagining what could rise from an empty stretch of desert. This week, standing among the people who helped turn that vision into reality, I found myself thinking less about what we have built than about what we can still accomplish together.
Shabbat Shalom,
Danny
