On the road from India to the US
Dear Friends,
As I write this, I’m sitting in the Chennai Airport, on my way home for just 24 hours before continuing on to New York for the annual A4BGU meeting. Quite a challenging itinerary, but nothing compared to what we’ve collectively experienced since I left Israel two weeks ago.
When I boarded the plane then, there was real fear that the war might escalate. Now, I return to a very different reality. It will be a relief to begin the new academic year in a week with fewer students serving in the reserves, and with the ability to refocus on our academic mission without the same existential weight we have carried for so long.
Over the past two days, I took part together with Prof. Dorit Nitzan, who runs the Ben Gurion University Food Systems, One Health & Resilience (BGU-FOR) Center, in a remarkable joint conference in Tamil Nadu between Kumaraguru Institutions and Ben-Gurion University on One Health. More than 500 participants attended, and we were received with exceptional warmth and hospitality. I was invited to deliver a keynote titled “Innovation in a Fragile World – The BGU Paradigm.”
Preparing that talk made me pause to reflect: how have we managed to function, even thrive, over the past five years?
We’ve faced the COVID-19 pandemic, political unrest and attacks on democracy, the October 7 massacre, the Gaza war, the 12-day conflict with Iran, and waves of boycotts and delegitimization attempts. Yet despite all of this, as I’ve written numerous times, BGU has grown stronger on every front: in research, enrollment, and partnerships.
And while many universities, especially in Western Europe, continue, perhaps unsurprisingly, to boycott Israeli academia, outstanding institutions in India are rushing to collaborate with us. Every crisis is an opportunity, and I am convinced that both Israel and India will emerge from these times stronger, more connected, and more determined to lead with knowledge and integrity.
Reflecting on these years, I believe our success can be distilled into three essential lessons, our “prescription” for innovation in a fragile world:
- Quickly Pivot – We adapted rapidly when circumstances shift.
- Keep Our Eye on the Target – We never lost sight of long-term goals.
- Use Entrepreneurship as a Cultural Force – We treated innovation not as an economic tool, but as a mindset that drives progress and resilience across our campuses and society.
These principles have guided us through crisis and toward creativity. As we open the new academic year, I’m inspired by how our university continues to transform challenges into catalysts for growth, remaining true to David Ben-Gurion’s vision of building a better future from the heart of the Negev.
Shabbat shalom,
Danny
