Prof. (Emerita) Ariela Lowenstein, is a renowned national and international expert in aging, family relations, elder abuse and neglect, and policy development on aging and gender issues. She is a founder of the Department of Gerontology (2000) and the Center for Research and Study of Aging at University of Haifa. She served as head of the Department (between 2000-2005), Assistant Dean of the School of Social Work, and as a representative of the University Senate. 

Prof. Lowenstein earned an MA in Social Work and Public Administration at New York University, and a PhD in Sociology from the Hebrew University. 

She joined the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College as Head of the Department of Health Services Management following her official retirement from UofH. About three years later, she was appointed President of the College (2012-2016), and established and co-chaired the International Aging Research Center. She has since returned to the Gerontology Department of the University of Haifa where she mentors and supervises MA and PhD students. She remains active at the Center for Research and Study of Aging and is currently heading an Israeli academic group that is part of a large European consortium within the Horizon 2020 framework entitled GenderNet. She is also a research partner of the 'Work and Retirement' project, funded by Israeli Ministry of Science. 

Prof. Lowenstein is a leading member of various advisory committees in Israel and abroad and is a prominent keynote speaker at conferences worldwide. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, a member of NICE (National Initiative for Elder Care) at the University of Toronto, and serves on the board of INPEA (International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse). She served as President of the European Gerontological Society and of the Israeli Society of Gerontology, headed a national committee on Aging for the Israeli Pensions Benefits Administration, and represented Israel on the ROSEnet COST Action Reducing Old-Age Exclusion in Europe network.

Her research is published extensively in leading scientific journals, with over 220 publications, and she has authored a number of books both in Hebrew and English. She has also served as a reviewer for leading journals on aging, as well as for prestigious research foundations including ISF and BSF. Over the course of her career, she has received several national and international competitive research grants, as well as prestigious awards including an Honorary Fellowship from the Gerontological Society of America and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gerontological Society of Israel (2005). 

The Judging Panel Rationale for Awarding the Prize:

Prof. Lowenstein is a unique academic figure with expertise in social work, criminology and gerontology. She is being recognized for her world-class research, which has deepened our understanding of the aging processes.

In the early 1990's, Prof Lowenstein was among the first to recognize that one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century would be coping with an increasingly aging population and life expectancy. She is a pioneer in scientific research into the social contexts of aging, including the issues of elderly abuse and neglect, intergenerational family relationships, and social exclusion of the elderly.

Her research, academic programs, and public policy work have inspired generations of gerontologists, physicians, healthcare professionals, and social workers.

Prof. Nitza Ben-Dov is well-known for pioneering comparative research on new and ancient Hebrew literature, as well as universal and comparative aspects of prominent Western literature. She is also largely credited with having helped make Hebrew literature accessible to Hebrew readers, as well as readers around the worldwide.

Prof. Ben-Dov studied Hebrew Literature and Biblical Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and earned her MA and PhD at the University of California in Berkeley. She was an assistant professor at Princeton University between 1986-1989, and joined the University of Haifa's Department of Hebrew and Comparative Literature in 1989 where she has taught ever since. Today, she lectures across the country on the power of literature to expand and enlighten the human spirit.

Over the course of her career, Prof. Ben-Dov published dozens of academic articles and essays in Hebrew and English, including a number of books. Many of her writings were translated into Spanish and Italian. Her research combines structuralist, feminist, psychoanalytical, and biographical elements in the work of famed Israeli writers including Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Abraham B. Yehoshua and Amos Oz, along with intra-textual and inter-textual scrutiny.

She has served as Editor-in-Chief of University of Haifa's Press/Zmora-Bitan (1996–2000) and as chair of the Academic TV channel (2001–2005). In 2006, she established the Women's and Gender Studies program, and in 2013 she launched the Cultural Studies program at the University. She also recently founded “Bedarkan" (Hebrew for 'Words Their Way'), a lecture series focusing on women throughout history and culture.

The Judging Panel Rationale for Awarding the Prize: 

Prof. Ben-Dov is a sharp and broad-minded literary critic who delves deeply into literary works to discover their hidden treasures. With her extensive knowledge of Israeli and Western literature she is able to uncover hidden secrets in modern literary works. Her writings are elegant, clear and convincing, and they stand on their own.

Ben-Dov's articles, essays and books have found a place in the hearts and minds of literature enthusiasts around the world.

Deborah Bernstein is a professor of sociology, at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. She has taught at the University of Haifa for over three decades and devoted her career to studying inequality and relations of dominance in Israeli society. Her research combines sociological and historical perspectives, which she employs in her study of relations between Jews and Arabs in Haifa during the mandate period. 

Prof. Bernstein has written extensively on ethnic, national and gender relations in Israel and in Mandate Palestine. Her publications include The Struggle for Equality, Urban Women Workers in Pre-state Israeli Society (1987), Constructing Boundaries - Jewish and Arab Workers in Mandatory Palestine (2000) and Women on the Margins, Gender and Nationalism in Mandate Tel Aviv (2008), as well as articles on prostitution, domestic labor and the mandatory judicial system.

The Judging Panel Rationale for Awarding the Prize:

Deborah Bernstein is an innovative sociologist and anthropologist who has shed new light on the study of Israeli society. Her work adopts an interdisciplinary perspective, incorporating sociology, anthropology, history and law. Her unique research focuses on the margins of society, contributing to the understanding of the relations of center and periphery and to the social history of everyday life.

Prof. Bernstein challenged the previously accepted theoretical perspective which emphasized solidarity, integration, and complementarity of the various components of society for the general good, as the factors explaining social dynamics, and instead highlighted the centrality of power relations, class exploitation and gender inequality as determining factors. She pointed to contrasting political, class and gender interests and to the reconstruction of social stratification and inequality.

The overall work of Prof. Bernstein, which appeared both in English and Hebrew, exemplifies the basic theoretical feminist tenet that – The personal is political. Her work demonstrates that people's lives are shaped within the context of structures of class, gender, ethnicity and nationality, in dynamic historical circumstances, while striving to enhance their dignity and identity. Her detailed research using a wide range of primary sources, and her sensitive analysis of the actors she studied, reveal a complex social reality which cannot be understood by simplistic binary categories. She has thus brought forth a unique voice to the study of Israeli society.

Abraham Ben-Zvi earned his PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago (1973). He lectured at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1973-1978), Tel-Aviv University (1979-2006), and the University of Haifa (2006-today), and is considered – both in Israel and throughout the academic community worldwide – as a leading scholar in the field of American-Israeli relations and fields related to the shaping of American policy in the Middle East.

Prof. Ben-Zvi’s research and academic writing explores the origins, evolution and dynamics of American-Israeli relations. He also writes extensively on several core strategic issues concerning Israel’s national security. Prof. Ben-Zvi's work provides a comparative perspective that contributes to a better understanding of such phenomena as surprise attack, deterrence and coercion. His writings have been broadly cited and are widely praised.

On two occasions, Prof. Ben-Zvi headed the Department of Political Science at TAU and the university's Program of Security Studies which he helped found. Since 2013, he has been heading the University of Haifa's MA in Diplomacy Program and the Dual Degree Program in International Relations with the University of Warsaw, which he founded. He also founded and headed (2006-2008) the MA Program in Negotiations and Decision Making in International Relations (in Hebrew) at the University. His sabbaticals were spent at Carlton University, Ottawa (1979), Cornell University (1988), and Georgetown University (between 1994-1995 and 2004-2006).

The Judging Panel Rationale for Awarding the Prize: 

Prof. Ben-Zvi’s longstanding analysis of the origins, dimensions and the various attributes of the American-Israeli partnership helped provide a unique perspective for understanding the social, cultural, historical and political forces, which played a role in the formation of this alliance. In view of the dominance and importance of the American-Israeli dyad to Israel’s security and well-being, his books, articles, and media appearances contributed greatly to the understanding of all the domestic and external factors, which affected the evolution and direction of this alliance, and which might also adversely impact its future developments.

In this respect, Prof. Ben-Zvi opened a window for Israeli audiences (not exclusively in the academic world) to become familiar not only with the American political system and the domestic factors that shaped, and were compatible with the “Special Relationship” paradigm, but with the linkages that have existed between the American political culture and its political system, and that had a profound impact on the margin of maneuverability, that successive American administrations had in approaching the governments of Israel.

Prof. (Emerita) Devorah Dimant is a leading scholar in the field of the Dead Sea Scrolls and ancient Jewish literature. A Jerusalem native, she completed her academic studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (BA 1960-1963; MA 1964-1967, Ph.D. 1964-1974), where she had the privilege of studying under Gershom Scholem and David Flusser.

In 1985, she was invited to join the team of scholars working on editing the Dead Sea Scrolls. She edited several Qumran texts discovered in the Judean Desert, including two unknown pseudepigraphic texts about the biblical prophet Jeremiah and the prophecies of the biblical prophet Ezekiel. Over the course of her career, she published numerous articles on various aspects of biblical interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and contemporary Jewish literature, and co-founded a Hebrew annual for the study of the scrolls (Meghillot). 

Prof. Dimant joined the University of Haifa in 1974, where she taught for over 30 years at the Departments of Biblical Studies and Jewish History. She served as editor on a number of editorial boards of major academic periodicals in the field, and participated in countless conferences and congresses in Israel and abroad. In 2010, Prof. Dimant received the Bialik Prize for Jewish Thought from the Municipality of Tel Aviv, for her research achievements and studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Judging Panel Rationale for Awarding the Prize:

Prof. Devorah Dimant is being recognized for her research exploring the 'language' of the Dead Sea Scrolls and its relationship to the Bible; for her division of the scrolls into sectarian and non-sectarian texts; for her unveiling of their hidden works, and for her discovery of biblical quotation method in the Scrolls and other contemporary. Her cutting-edge biblical research has left its mark on the way we study the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).

Prof. Arie Rimmerman is the Richard Crossman Professor of Social Welfare and Social Planning, and the founding Dean of the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences. He served as a distinguished Professor at the Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University, and lectured at leading universities worldwide including Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Washington University and Charles University, Prague. 

Prof. Rimmerman initiated and established the first rehabilitation graduate program in social work at Bar-Ilan University (1981), and the Israeli Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disability (1983). He was a consultant on the committee that drafted the 'Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law' 5758-1998, led the Committee of Experts on Transition from Institutional to Community Care for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (2011), and chaired the committee that proposed new policies for veterans with disabilities (2017).

Prof. Rimmerman's scholarly work focuses on social inclusion. He has published 11 books and more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and research reports in Israel, Australia, Europe and the United States. His book entitled Social Inclusion and People with Disabilities, was recently translated into Arabic at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, and his new book, Aging Veterans with Disabilities: A Cross-National Study of Policies and Challenges, was recently published by Routledge.

Prof. Rimmerman is a recipient of a Fulbright Doctoral Student Fellowship (1979), the Lehman Award (1987),  the William Trump Award (1998), the International Award of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (1999), and the Burton Blatt Institute Distinguished Leadership Award (2006). 

The Judging Panel Rationale for Awarding the Prize:

Prof. Rimmerman's groundbreaking studies have left their mark on decision makers of social policy for people with disabilities in Israel and around the world. His research findings have shaped and continue to influence the professional work of social workers and rehabilitation providers working with disabled populations in Israel and around the world.

Prof. Philip Rantzer is one of the most prominent sculptors in Israel. Since joining the University of Haifa more than 30 years ago, he has served as Head of the Department of Fine Arts on two occasions; and is the current Head of the School of the Arts.

Over the course of his career, Prof. Rantzer volunteered with various cultural organizations and committees, held over 40 solo exhibitions, and participated in over 80 group exhibitions in Israel and around the world. He received numerous awards from the Ministry of Culture, the Tel Aviv and Israel Museums, The America-Israel Cultural Foundation, and the prestigious Twentieth Anniversary Heitland Foundation Award (1999).

Prof. Rantzer was born in Romania in 1956 and immigrated to Israel as a child in 1960. His artistic career started to take off after he completed his military service and began working at the Habima Theater as a props designer. He curated an art exhibit in the Theater's lobby, exhibiting his art alongside the works of actors and theater staff. He later went on to study at the Ramat Hasharon Art Teachers' College (1979-1982). In 1989, he received the Culiner Award for Young Artist from the Israel Museum and began teaching at the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Haifa. 

Philip Rantzer was promoted to the rank of professor in 2002, and appointed Head of the Department of Fine Arts where he developed and led the development of a graduate program in fine arts.

Prof. Rantzer received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Art (2019) from The Ministry of Culture and Sport. He describes his work below:

At its core, my art is biographical, a theme in art that has been rejected by Israel's art scene for years. Immigration and assimilation difficulties are among the themes present in the work. My best-known work, the image of the house on wheels, implies a constant state of migration, and immigration as a mental state.

My most recent works feature assemblages of miscellaneous objects, which I perceive as acting as mediators between personal, private memories and the memories experienced by the viewer. As such, they represent both something present and something absent or permanently lost.

Oded Zehavi has served as a professor of music at the School of the Arts for over 25 years, and is the founder of the University of Haifa's Department of Music (1995). Zehavi’s music runs the gamut from atonality to neo-romanticism and has won international accolades from both audiences and critics for its appealing and emotional content. His tonal language draws from music traditions of the Middle East (Jewish and Arabic), European art song and contemporary techniques, and explores the fusion of western and ethnic musical heritages. 

Over the course of his career, Prof. Zehavi was the recipient of numerous prizes and residencies, including the 2015 Schusterman Visiting Artist Residency (Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Institute of Music) and the 2014 Prime Minister's Prize for Composition. He serves as chairman of the Repertoire Committee for Elementary and Secondary Education at the Israel National Culture Division and is the Music Director for the Israeli Music Festival, which presents a week-long series of free concerts featuring Israeli music from all genres throughout the country. His work as a tonmeister with Eshel Sound Studios has resulted in a number of commercial disc releases on the Helicon label, as well as live concert broadcasts with the Rubinstein International Piano Competition and European cable companies such as Mezzo and Arte. He is also an avid arranger/composer of music for dance, theater, feature film, documentaries and pop/rock. 

In April 2020, Matthias Pintscher and the Cleveland Orchestra performed the world premiere of his concerto for piccolo and orchestra, commissioned by piccolo soloist Mary Kay Fink. Soloists including Rivka Golani and Guy Braunstein have premiered his music in a number of the world's most prominent concert halls and festivals such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, BargeMusic, Banff Music Centre and the Musikverein. 

The Judging Panel Rationale for Awarding the Prize:

Prof. Oded Zehavi works tirelessly to promote Israeli music in all its forms. His music touches on a wide range of styles and expressions, with Hebrew poetry as an integral part of his works. He is being recognized for his notable contributions to music, music education and Israeli culture.

Noga Ron-Zewi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science. Her research on the theory of computation focuses on topics at the interface between communication and computation, including coding theory, complexity, and algorithms. She earned her PhD in Computer Science from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (2014). Prior to joining the University of Haifa, she was an IAS-DIMACS postdoctoral fellow with a joint position at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) at Princeton and the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS) at Rutgers, and a faculty member at Ben-Gurion University. She was a recipient of the Rothschild postdoctoral fellowship, and the Alon Fellowship.

Dr. Ron-Zewi was awarded the 2019 Krill Prize for her research on error-correcting codes and computation. She describes her work below:

One of the main tasks in the area of communication is to guarantee reliability, that is, the ability to cope with errors (‘noise’) in transmission. For this, one encodes the transmission with error-correcting codes that allow one to decode the original transmission even if errors occurred. New developments in the area of computation, such as massive use of the Internet and distributed servers on various platforms, require one to cope with transmission and storage of huge amount of data in interactive environment. These developments pose new computational requirements such as the need for highly efficient algorithms for error detection and correction, and adaptation of the standard communication models to the interactive setting. My research is concerned with computational aspects related to communication and error-correcting codes, with special emphasis on modern applications as those described above.