{"id":84207,"date":"2017-02-02T09:25:44","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T07:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/blog\/putting-the-common-good-first-at-technion\/"},"modified":"2017-02-02T09:25:44","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T07:25:44","slug":"putting-the-common-good-first-at-technion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/putting-the-common-good-first-at-technion\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting the Common Good First at Technion"},"content":{"rendered":"
Technion alumnus Moshe Yanai highlighted the depth of service exemplified through recipients of the Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education. The annual Technion ceremony added new prize categories, including an educational initiative grant; and commendation in teaching.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Six outstanding professors at the Technion Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering received the Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education this year. In addition to prizes for excellence, new categories were added for education in entrepreneurship and special commendation for teaching.<\/span><\/p>\n The ceremony was attended by Moshe and Rachel Yanai, the Technion Board, the winners and their families, lecturers and students. The prestigious prize was awarded for the sixth consecutive year: <\/span>\u201cIn appreciation of faculty members, who set an example through their endless contributions to teaching and learning and for their efforts to improve student involvement and sense of belonging to the Technion.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n The six prize recipients this year are: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Yanai educational initiative grant was awarded to the vertical-thematic studio (which was established at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning). Teaching commendations were awarded to Professor Dan Ritter (Faculty of Electrical Engineering), Associate Professor Yossi Gil (Faculty of Computer Science) and Associate Professor Yoed Tsur (Faculty of Chemical Engineering). <\/span><\/p>\n Technion alumnus Moshe Yanai, donated $12 million for the establishment of the prize. Attending the ceremony with his wife Rachel, he said: \u201cThe prizewinners are people who put the common good before their own personal good. Academic promotion is based on publishing articles and obtaining research grants, and not on the quality of teaching, and therefore researchers like you, who invest time and effort in teaching, do so out of genuine altruism. Our contribution to the establishment of the prize is a catalyst for excellence in teaching, but no less important is the seriousness with which the Technion approaches this mission. Everyone talks about the importance of teaching in academia, but the Technion doesn\u2019t merely talk about it. It does a lot in this area.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie spoke about the revolution taking place in the world of teaching and about the Technion\u2019s commitment to play a significant role. \u201cThe monopoly on the retention and distribution of knowledge has been taken out of the hands of its historical gatekeepers, and now the pocket of every ten-year-old contains more computer power than the Apollo spacecraft.\u201d he said. \u201cTherefore, teaching shouldn\u2019t be based on facts and content, but rather on imparting skills such as validation of information, integration of information from different sources and intelligent use of information for problem-solving. We must make sure that the training, skills and knowledge that we impart to our students will be relevant not just a few years after graduation, but throughout their professional lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Yanai Prize is the most important prize awarded at the Technion for excellence in teaching,\u201d said the chairperson of the prize committee, Technion Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Prof. Hagit Attiya. \u201cIt is also the most significant prize that the Technion awards to its faculty members. This clearly and concretely demonstrates the importance that the Technion attaches to teaching.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Professor Sima Yaron spoke on behalf of the prize recipients. \u201cAlthough I come from an engineering faculty, I believe that there is no one single formula for effective teaching, and there is no one single correct way to create a meaningful learning experience,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very easy for me to remember three teachers that I consider teachers of life: teachers whose teaching method attracted me to mathematics and science in childhood, and a larger number of lecturers who taught me as a student, here at the Technion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Professor Yaron spoke about the extensive project initiated by students from the faculty in the wake of the oil spill incident in the southern Arava in December 2014. \u00a0A large group of students, accompanied by Technion faculty members, volunteered to research ways to remove pollution from the soil. \u201cI always knew that we had a gold mine of wonderful students here,\u201d said Professor Yaron, \u201cbut in that formative year, I learned that our students, even those who come late to class or unprepared to exams, or don\u2019t do their homework, are just waiting for a trigger that will send them in the right direction. When that happens, they get carried away and devote themselves to the learning and work experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The faculty prize went to the Faculty of Food Engineering and Biotechnology. \u201cThe prize fills me with pride, but doesn\u2019t surprise me,\u201d said Prof. Marcelle Machluf, Dean of the Faculty. \u201cThis is the result of many years of effort by faculty members and employees. \u00a0In selecting faculty members, we take into account not only the level of research but also excellence in teaching. Previous Yanai Prize winners from the faculty, Prof. Ayelet Fishman and Prof. Ester H. Segal, are joined this year by Prof. Sima Yaron, and I am sure she will not be the last. I thank the students at the faculty, who are the source of our success.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Technion Student Union Chairman Omer Amit said that it is important to remember that the term \u201cresearch university\u201d includes not only the word \u201cresearch\u201d but also the word \u201cuniversity,\u201d whose purpose is teaching. \u201cYou, the prize recipients, have now received a badge of excellence that bears a great responsibility: to be teaching ambassadors at your faculties and to inspire those lecturers that do not take teaching as seriously as you do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Yanai educational initiative grant was awarded to the vertical-thematic studio which was established at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning. \u201cThe studio was established as part of the restructuring of teaching at the Faculty, and aims to link research to practice, to enrich the range of options available to students and to better prepare them for their final project,\u201d explained studio founder Prof. Alona Nitzan-Shiftan.<\/span><\/p>\n The event was hosted by Prof. Ayelet Baram-Tsabari from the Faculty of Education in Science & Technology. <\/span><\/p>\n About the Yanai Prize<\/span><\/p>\n Moshe Yanai is a global pioneer in the field of information storage. His donation to Technion in the form of the Yanai Prize expresses his gratitude to Technion for the life skills he gained during his studies at the institute 40 years ago. Since he recalls the years of study at the university with hardship and periods of difficulty, he decided together with Technion President, Prof. Peretz Lavie, to contribute $12 million to award lecturers who have demonstrated teaching excellence, a gift that also greatly benefits Technion students. The prize, which awards NIS 100,000 to each lecturer, will be awarded over a period of 20 years. <\/span><\/p>\n For photos from the awards ceremony,<\/span>click here<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Photos:<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: Nitzan Zohar, Office of the Spokesperson, the Technion<\/span><\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Technion alumnus Moshe Yanai highlighted the depth of service exemplified through recipients of the Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education. The annual Technion ceremony added new prize categories, including an educational initiative grant; and commendation in teaching. Six outstanding professors at the Technion Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering received the Yanai Prize for… Continue Reading Putting the Common Good First at Technion<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\n