Moshe Arens 1925-2019

Technion mourns the passing of Moshe (Misha) Arens, former Technion faculty member, and Honorary Life Member of the International Board of Governors. During his career, Arens served as Israel’s Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs and also as Israel’s Ambassador to the United States in 1982. Throughout the years, he maintained a close relationship with the Technion.

Moshe Arens 1925-2019

Moshe Arens 1925-2019

In 1986, Technion conferred an honorary doctorate on Moshe Arens. During 1957-1965, Arens served as faculty member at Technion’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. “During the ’50s there was much doubt with regards to the necessity of an Aeronautics Department,” Arens told former Technion President Prof. Zehev Tadmor, during a videoed interview on the phenomenon of the Start-up Nation.  “Founders of the faculty were seeking engine experts and that’s how they found me, a Caltech alumnus who had a few years’ experiences working for the US industry. At Technion, I started to teach aircraft design and was very impressed with the students’ academic level. Indeed, as years went by, the department evolved into a world-renowned faculty in its field.”

1958 saw the first graduation class of Technion’s then-Aeronautical Engineering Faculty, with 11 male graduates and a single female graduate. These aspiring students and those that followed them created Israel’s aerospace industry.

Moshe Arens was proud of the graduates of the faculty’s early years who have contributed to making Israel the aerospace power that it is today.

May his memory be a blessing.