“Compromise without Compromises” in the Technion: 14 Lecturers Awarded the Yanai Award for Excellence in Academic Education

The Yanai Award for Excellence in Academic Education has been awarded by the Technion for the first time. The award, aimed at promoting the quality of teaching in the Technion, was awarded to 14 faculty members from the different Technion faculties: Prof. Alon Gany, Prof. Shimon Gepstein, Prof. Irad Yavneh, Prof. Avishai Mandelbaum, Prof. Noam Soker, Prof. David Chillag, Prof. Uri Eliash, Prof. Hossam Haick, Prof. Amnon Katz, Prof. Doron Melamed, Prof. Ayelet Fishman, Prof. Avinoam Kolodny, Prof. Eitan Kimmel and Dr. Seffy (Yosef) Givli.

Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie said that one of the goals he had set for himself, at the beginning of his tenure, was to improve the treatment of students and nurture the level of teaching in the Technion. “It is important that we provide our students with an efficient and enjoyable learning experience. I have read what the lecturers who received the award have said about teaching, and one common theme is evident in their words: respect for the student. They listen to the student and recognize that sometimes the student is wrong – and sometimes they are. These words should be taught in all schools of education. The Yanai Award breaks the myth of a contradiction between excellence in research and excellence in teaching. Here before us are excellent teachers who are also excellent researchers, and one of them is a faculty Dean. This is proof that excellence in research, excellence in teaching and holding an administrative position are not contradictory to each other”.

Moshe Yanai, whose 10 million dollar contribution will allow to grant each awarded lecturer    NIS 100 thousand for twenty years, expressed his appreciation of the 14 award winners, and said that their dedication to teaching and to their students should not be taken for granted. “The academy encourages papers, namely research and publications. I do not know of people who were promoted or appreciated more by virtue of their investment in students. Therefore, these dear people who are receiving the award today are true altruists. They have placed the needs of society and of the State above their own personal interests, and I am awed and grateful for their actions. This award is unique in that it requires serious investment and giving up those things that are important for the lecturer’s promotion, because the criteria are far from simply. This award is not given simply to the nice lecturer, and you know very well that the easy way  of education and educing demands is not rewarded here, but rather work and true effort put into preparation and education, that come at the expense of time you could have invested in research and in promoting yourselves”.

A movie shown during the ceremony featured interviews of some of the awarded lecturers and their students. Prof. Avishai Mandelbaum, who spoke for the award winners, joined the Technion President in saying that “leading research and excellent teaching go hand in hand, and teaching in a research-engineering institutions such as the Technion is a fascinating challenge – a compromise without compromises”.

“The difference between a teacher and a student is not big: both have similar goals and both teach and learn at the same time”, said Prof. Mandelbaum. He also spoke of his love for the teaching profession, and said that when his family calls and ask if he is at work, he answer: “no, I’m in the Technion.”

Prof. Moshe Sidi, Vice President for Academic Affairs, is the man who heads the committee that selected the 14 award winners. “At the end of the first screening we had 32 candidates, said Prof. Sidi. “Of these, we selected the winners based on complex, in-depth and non-standard criteria, such as the mutual respect between the lecturer and his students”.

Above: Moshe Yanai (second from the right) and Prof. Peretz Lavie (on his right) – with the winners of the Yanai Award. Photo: Technion Spokesman