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BGU Presents Honorary Doctorate to NY Philanthropist

BGU Presents Honorary Doctorate to NY Philanthropist

May 19, 2015

Leadership, Awards & Events, Press Releases

BGU presented philanthropist and New York business leader Alexander M. Goren with a prestigious honorary doctoral degree during a ceremony at the University’s 45th Board of Governors Meeting in Beer-Sheva, Israel last week.

At the ceremony, BGU President Prof. Rivka Carmi conferred upon him the degree of Doctor Philosophiae Honoris Causa, “With gratitude for a magnanimous and passionate Zionist, whose family has been associated with the University since its inception, for upholding an illustrious tradition of giving, contributing to its physical growth and academic achievement, thus demonstrating his profound commitment and unwavering belief in its promising future and in its importance to the residents of the Negev and the State of Israel.”

Goren is chairman of BGU’s Board of Governors; he has been a governor since 1978. He is also the immediate past president of American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Americans for Ben-Gurion University), and continues to serve on both Americans for Ben-Gurion University’s national board and the regional board of the Greater New York Region.

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“My vision of the future is a vision of peace,” Goren said in a presentation during the ceremony. “I think BGU has a crucial role to play, and I think we can really be a catalyst for better understanding between the Jewish population and the Arab population.”

“Alex has been a pioneer in the evolution of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev from a struggling start-up in a dusty desert town to a world class institution of higher learning and scientific research,” says Doron Krakow, Americans for Ben-Gurion University executive vice president.

“His passionate leadership on both sides of the ocean has drawn legions of supporters and provided critical wisdom and insight integral to the University’s success for more than a generation. We are deeply honored to count him among our most important leaders and partners and congratulate him on this highly deserved honor.”

Goren is a past president of the Cukier, Goldstein-Goren Foundation, which supports projects in education, culture, health, and social welfare. Through the foundation, Alex and his family have been major supporters of BGU since the early 1970s, when they funded the construction the Cukier, Goldstein-Goren Building for Humanities and Social Sciences.

In the ensuing years, the family made additional contributions, resulting in the naming of the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought, the Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought, a scholarship fund and, most recently, the Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren Department of Biotechnology Engineering, named in memory of his parents.

He is currently a partner in Goren Brothers, a money management and real estate company in Manhattan. For over 40 years, Alex has had a distinguished business career in Italy, Canada, Great Britain, Israel, and the United States. From 1987 to 1994, he was vice chairman of the New York and Foreign Securities Corporation, an institutional brokerage house.

Goren is also a long-serving board member of New York City Outward Bound, New York University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and a member of the NYU Harold Acton Society. He received an M.B.A. from the Columbia Business School and a B.A. in economics from Harvard University.

Watch a video of Alex Goren shown at the honorary doctorate ceremony >>

ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY

By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.

About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.

We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.

BGU at a glance:  

20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.

 

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James Fattal, J Cubed Communications

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