Prof. Yitzhak Apeloig, Past President of the Technion, receives a prestigious award from the German government

For his continuing activities in strengthening ties between Israeli and German scientists

All the speakers at the ceremony noted the good but delicate relations between Germany and Israel and stressed the importance of the language of science as a bridge and trust builder. Technion President, Prof. Peretz Lavie, said that the Technion was conceptualized at the University of Berlin and set up by German born Jewish scientists. “The good relations were cut off brutally and horribly in World War II,” he said. “Since then, the complex relations between our two states have been recovering, and this requires dedicated people like Prof. Apeloig who contribute continuously to the improvement of these relations. The language which Prof. Apeloig has chosen is the language of science.”

Ambassador Michaelis said that this is the first time that he is granting the award in Israel. “The scientific cooperation between Germany and Israel is great and deep,” he emphasized. “You, Prof. Apeloig, are one of the most important contributors to this cooperation.”

The Mayor of Haifa, Attorney Yona Yahav, said that his city has close relations with five cities in Germany.

Prof. Apeloig expressed his thanks for receiving the award. He said it was not easy for him when he began working in cooperation with German scientists. “Both Zipi, my wife, and myself come from families of Holocaust survivors. I was born in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, where my family had fled from Poland. I grew up with harsh feelings towards Germany. This wasn’t a promising prologue to my stay in Germany for my post-doctorate, where I went when I followed my supervisor from Princeton. The German scientists showed me another side of Germany and since then I have been to Germany many times, German scientists have visited the Technion many times, I made friendswith many of them, and some have become lifelong friends. I believe very strongly that science can serve as a bridge of friendship between nations.”

Prof. Apeloig has visited Germany many times with his students for conferences, with the support of the Minerva Foundation. One of these visits was to, a charming conference site belonging to the Academy of Sciences in Berlin. 65 people attended the meeting, and of these, 18 were scientists and the remainder, chemistry and physics students, half from Germany and half from Israel. These meetings, which combine science, study workshops and social events, are very important. About this meeting, Prof. Apeloig said: “This was an important, interesting and exciting event, which will contribute to the strengthening of the cooperation between Israeli and German scientists and the creation of a bridge between future scientists in both countries.”

There are 11 Minvera Centers in the Technion and within this framework Prof. Appeloig, together with Prof. Sason Shaik of the Hebrew University, established “The Lise Meitner-Minerva Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry.”

The University of Berlin previously awarded Prof. Apeloig an “Honorary Doctorate” degree – making him the first Israeli to be presented with this distinguished honorary degree by this university, where the Technion in Haifa was conceptualized more than a hundred years ago. The heads of the university said then that Prof. Apeloig received the honorary doctorate for his important scientific achievements in the research of chemistry of organosilicon complexes, and emphasized his great contribution to the advancement of scientific relations with German scientists.

Above: Prof. Yitzhak Apeloig (on the left) receiving the award from the German ambassador to Israel, Andreas Michalis. Photo by: Yoav Bechar, Technion photographer