Yitzhak Bar-Nov served as director of the marketing division of the Paz Oil Company, and as a member of the Paz management board. He also served in senior positions at the Technion over many years, both as chairman of the Technion Graduates Association and as chairman of the Student Affairs Association. In recognition of his efforts Bar-Nov was made an honorary fellow of the Technion, the title being granted to his family shortly after his death on June 1, 1992.
The fund in memory of Yitzhak Bar-Nov was set up by a grant from the Paz Group. It awards a monetary prize to students in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management who produce outstanding work in marketing, advertising, and labor relations.
Yochanan Comay was born in South Africa and moved to Israel with his parents in 1948. He joined the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management in 1969 after gaining a doctorate from Princeton University in the field of labor economics. He was a brilliant scientist, and published articles in leading journals in the fields of human capital and emigration.
During the Yom Kippur War Yochanan fought in battles on the Golan Heights, and was killed in the line of duty. He was 34 years old.
The Yochanan Comay Prize is awarded for outstanding projects in economics and management.
Yanina Dombrovska was born in Poland in 1910. Together with her sister, Yanina survived the Second World War, in which the rest of her family perished, thanks to Polish friends who hid them in their home. At the end of the war, Yanina married Leon, who had been a prisoner at Auschwitz. Their son Giora (who would later complete his studies at the Technion) was born in Poland, and the family moved to Israel in 1950, settling in Jerusalem.
Yanina passed away at the age of 95.
One of Yanina’s most important concerns was the subject of education and learning. She emphasized the importance of studying hard, and working hard, in order to succeed in life.
Yanina’s granddaughter, Lotem Alon, graduated from the faculty for industrial engineering and management in 2010. Together with the rest of her family she has chosen to honor Yanina’s memory by offering a grant to students at the faculty. The grant is offered to financially disadvantaged students or to students serving in the IDF reserves, who contribute to society and who understand the importance and impact of helping others. Yanina’s family hopes that in this way they can enable the grant recipients to support education in Israel and to strengthen the state in the present and in the future.
Danny Folk was born in 1979, and at the age of 20 was diagnosed with an untreatable form of cancer. Despite his illness Danny didn’t give up on his dreams, and managed to start a family, to complete his university studies and to find work. He was a true Zionist, a member of the Bnei Akiva youth movement, and a yeshiva (religious academy) student. Danny loved Israel greatly, and visited several times. During his time in the country he was active in the Commission for Jewish Education, with the aim of enabling every Jewish child to receive a Jewish education. In September 2008, after a long battle with illness, Danny passed away.
The Danny Folk Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding student in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management who is a new immigrant to Israel and who volunteers in the community.
Prof. Samuel and Lillian Keidan Levin, members of the board of directors of the Detroit chapter of the American Technion Society, were enthusiastic supporters of the Technion and of Israel. Prof. Samuel Levin, a professor of economics at Wayne State University in Detroit, was one of the founders of the American Technion Society’s Detroit chapter, and served as the president of the Jewish National Fund of Metropolitan Detroit. Lillian Keidan Levin was a translator of books into Braille.
Their daughter, Judy Levin Cantor, helps the Technion to commemorate their work, and has contributed a prize in their name to fund travel to international conferences for graduate students.
Yaakov Nachmani was a Technion graduate and a senior adjunct member of the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management. He taught in the quality and reliability assurance program, and served as head of the Technion’s administration division. Nachmani saw teaching as a calling and a challenge. He brought to his teaching broad knowledge and a wealth of experience, born of many years of managing and consulting with the IDF, the Israeli navy, industry, and high-tech.
Mrs. Nurit Nachmani, Yaakov’s widow, chose to continue his path of helping the Faculty’s students by awarding two prizes to students at an advanced stage of their studies, with an emphasis on quality and reliability assurance.
Prof. Meir Rosenblatt conducted research and taught at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management from 1984 until 2000. He was an outstanding researcher of industrial engineering in general, and in particular of production management, and an excellent teacher, as well as having a gift for forming social circles wherever he found himself. Prof. Rosenblatt passed away at the young age of 51, after a serious illness.
His widow, Dr. Zehava Rosenblatt, and their family have helped fund the refurbishment of the faculty common room.
Prof. Yanai Taab joined the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management in the 1950s and was one of Israel’s first teachers and researchers in the field of labor relations. He developed the Faculty’s graduate program in organizational sciences and management, and the human resource management and labor relations track. Prof. Taab was one of the founders of the Israel Labor Relations Association, and taught generations of students who are today influential figures in the Israeli marketplace.
The Yanai Taab Prize, donated by Prof. Taab’s widow, is given each year to an academically outstanding graduate student whose thesis is on subjects related to labor relations and organizational behavior.
Sanford Kaplan entered the business world in the US at the end of the Second World War, on his return from service in the US Navy. Kaplan went on to serve on the boards of trustees of a number of large companies, including Intel and Xerox, and was also a highly active member of the board of directors of the American Technion Society.
Kaplan financially supported a number of projects at the Technion, such as construction of the eastern student dormitories, the Sanford Kaplan Chair of Aeronautical Engineering, the construction of faculty common rooms, and various research projects. In 1995 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Technion. Sanford passed away in 2006.
The Sanford Kaplan Prize for Creative Management in 21st Century High-Tech annually awards a $5,000 grant to a student or faculty member for a technological initiative that brings together cutting-edge research with the development of a competitive product.
Joseph Lantzer was one of the outstanding leaders of industry in the Haifa region. From 1969 to 1981 he served as chairman of the northern branch of the Manufacturers Association of Israel. The association promotes a range of activities in support of Israeli industry, including improving relations with the community and the environment, technological education, education for industry, and promoting procurement of Israeli goods and services.
The Joseph Lantzer Fund provides scholarship grants for students in need of financial assistance who live in the north of Israel and study in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management.
Prof. Pinchas Naor was one of the founders of the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management. He joined the faculty of the Technion in 1953, and served as president of the Operations Research Society of Israel, as a member of the Council for Higher Education, and as a senior vice president of the Technion. He was one of the main forces behind the development of the field of operations research in Israel. Prof. Naor was killed in an aviation accident in 1970, at the age of 47.
The Pinchas Naor Prize consists of a scholarship grant given to outstanding students in the field of operations research.
Ben-Ami Rosenfeld graduated from the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management in 1965. He has served as CEO of companies in the Schering-Plough group in Europe and Africa, and as executive vice president and COO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and is now involved in businesses in the Israeli and international markets.
The Rosenfeld family seeks to promote and encourage innovation in Israeli industry, in particular in traditional industry. They view innovation as an issue of great national importance, indeed one that is critical to the success of the State of Israel. They believe that innovation can act as an engine for progress and growth for companies seeking breakthroughs in their business environment, and that it is vital for keeping industries efficient. They view the adoption of innovation as a fundamental element of industry in a competitive world, and support the training of engineers who will make innovation part of the culture of Israeli industry.
The Rosenfeld family has generously donated sizeable prizes for students who produce outstanding innovative projects in manufacturing, as well as scholarships for financially disadvantaged students.
Prof. Reuven Rubenstein was born in Lithuania in 1938. He completed a doctorate in operations research at the Riga Technical University before immigrating to Israel in 1973. On his arrival he joined the Technion faculty, and taught at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management until his retirement. He was a world-renowned expert in stochastic systems, applied probability and Monte Carlo methods, and developed the cross-entropy method. Reuven passed away in Israel in 2012.
Reuven and his wife Rina contributed to refurbishing the seminar hall in the Bloomfield Building and the establishment of the Prof. Reuven Rubenstein Fund. The fund, established in perpetuity, provides grants to graduate students in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management for the purpose of travel to international conferences.
Mr. Yosef Greenblatt was born in 1895 in Galtz, Romania. Growing up in a Zionistic home imbued with, trade, and economics, he absorbed these values.
Yosef Greenblatt dedicated himself to promoting immigration to the Palestine by organizing conferences aimed at persuading as many Jews as possible to make the journey to their old homeland. He himself acted on his convictions and migrated, leaving behind considerable assets.
Believing in the importance of Israel’s economic independence, particularly in robust and efficient industries like agriculture, tourism, and commerce, Yosef Greenblatt established as early as 1942, “Beit Dolfin”, a rehabilitation center and hotel, as well as “Beit Chava,” envisioned as senior housing, in Shavei Tzion. Additionally, he established a chemical company.
Yosef Greenblatt championed the notion that Zionist success in its goal to inhabit the land should be achieved and strengthened through economic activity. Thus, in 1942, he formed a partnership with Kibbutz Sdot Yam in the fishing sector, and in 1943, he established a partnership with Kibbutz Evron for sheep farming. He contributed the funds while the kibbutzim provided the labor.
The “Misko” factory, founded by the late Mr. Greenblatt, became a pioneering force in the production of scaffolding and related products for the construction industry. Over time, it expanded its scope to encompass storage and industrial furniture.
Yosef Greenblatt firmly believed in the significance of Israel’s economic independence, particularly in terms of robust and efficient industries.
He consistently emphasized the need for Israelis to rely solely on themselves and detach from dependence on others.
He posited that in order to attain economic independence, Israel must prioritize education and the improvement of work methods, constantly striving for progress.
This conviction led him to make an exceptionally generous donation in 1978, establishing a prestigious chair in production engineering at the Technion’s Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management. Additionally, he initiated a scholarship fund for students, with the aim of fostering and guiding them toward careers in production management.
In 1979, in recognition of his remarkable contributions to the country’s shipping and industrial sectors, as well as his support for studies in production engineering and industrial management, Mr. Yosef Greenblatt was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Technion.
