Zvi Arad - Biography

Biography

Subsequent to the completion of his high school education he began his academic studies in the Mathematics Department of Bar-Ilan University. He received his first degree in 1964 and after army service went on to complete a second and third degree in the Mathematics Department of Tel Aviv University. In 1968 he joined the academic staff at Bar-Ilan University as an assistant and in 1983 was appointed a Full professor. During the years 1978/9 he held the position of Visiting Scientist at the University of Chicago, and from 1982 to 1983 held the position of visiting Professor at the University of Toronto.

Arad has held a variety of senior academic posts; including at Bar-Ilan University as Head of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Rector, and President of the University. Together with Professor Bernard Pinchuk he founded and established "Gelbart Institute" an international research institute and the "Emmy Noether Institute" (Minerva Center). Together with colleagues he established the Mathematic journal – Israel Mathematics Conference Proceedings, distributed by the American Mathematical Society (AMS). From 1984–1985 he served as a member of the Council for Higher Education of the State of Israel. In 1982 he was elected a member of Russia's Academy of Natural Sciences.

Since 1994 he has served on the editorial board of the Algebra Colloquium, a journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences published by Springer-Verlag. He also serves on the editorial board of various international publications: South East Asian Bulletin of Mathematics of the Asian Mathematical Society, the IMCP of Contemporary Mathematics published by the American Mathematical Society, and the publication Cubo Matemática Educacional, Temuco, Chile.

Zvi Arad has participated in many academic projects, and has also specialized in projects concerning the advancement of higher education in Israel. He has initiated numerous agreements of cooperation with various universities and institutions throughout the world including academic institutes in the former Soviet Union, universities and research centers in America, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, China, South Africa, etc. He was a member of Israel's first official delegation to the former USSR, under the leadership of President Ezer Weizman. In an official address, President Mikhail Gorbachev mentioned Professor Arad's contributions towards the establishment of scientific communications between Israel and the former USSR. In an effort to advance cooperation in research he has headed delegations of scientists to Russia, China, and East Germany.

In the newspaper Haaretz (January 21, 1998) he was described as one of the pioneers in the reform of higher education in Israel. The Encyclopaedia Hebraica lists Zvi Arad as "fulfilling a key role in the development and advancement of Bar-Ilan University and in the establishment of the University's regional colleges in Safed, Ashkelon and the Jordan Valley)." For this achievement he was awarded a certificate of honor by the mayor of each city. The establishment of these colleges began in 1985 and went on to affect the whole of Israel. These colleges advanced the Galilee and Southern Israel and brought higher education to the peripheries of Israel.

In 1994, at the request of the mayors of the city of Netanya, Yoel Elroi and Zvi Poleg, Professor Arad established the Netanya Academic College. A partner in the initiation and establishment of the college was Miriam Feirberg, who at that time served as head of the Education Department of the City of Netanya. Today the college is an accredited institute of higher education and is authorized to grant first and second academic degrees in a variety of fields.

Professor Arad, together with his colleague Professor Marcel Herzog, wrote the book Products of Conjugacy Classes, published by Springer-Verlag. The book facilitated the basis of the establishment of mathematical theory and today forms part of the branch of abstract algebra known as Table Algebras, and is attached to central branches in mathematics: Graph theory, algebra combinations, and theory presentation. Professor Arad is counted amongst the leaders in this field. Recently, Professor Arad has complied two further books with colleagues on the subject of table algebra. In 2000 his book was published in the series American Mathematical Society Memoirs and in January 2002 another book on table algebras was published in the international publication, Springer. In 2006 Professor Arad was the editor of Contemporary Mathematics, Volume 402. Professor Arad has had some 90 articles published in various international articles.