History of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Initiated with the help of increasing Jewish unity made possible by the new communication technologies of the Second Industrial Revolution,[2] the Technion was born 36 years before Israel declared independence.

[4] Throughout the century – since the laying of the first cornerstone in 1912 – Technion has had a historic task in anticipating future needs in order to ensure the survival and growth of the State of Israel.

As it celebrates its cornerstone centennial in 2012, Technion City is a thriving world center of research and teaching, with 12,850 students and 80 graduate programs.

[14] Jews were often barred from technical or scientific training,[15] and without these skills and a grounded education in engineering, the Zionist vision of creating a nation would remain just a dream.

In 1902, Theodor Herzl envisioned Haifa as "a great park....with an overhead electrical train.... a city of magnificent homes and public institutions all made possible by applied science, engineering and technology."

"[16] A group of three young men in their twenties: Martin Buber of Vienna, student of philosophy and Zionist; Berthold Feiwel of Berlin – political writer and editor and Chaim Weizmann – formed a caucus emphasizing the need for a Jewish university with a first objective of education in technology.

Zionist leader Dr. Menahem Ussishkin used the occasion to deliver a keynote address in which he expressed the urgency for an institution of higher education in Palestine.

[18] Paul Nathan of the Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden ("Relief Organization of German Jews"), played a central role in bringing together diverse Jewish groups under the Technikum umbrella, and in raising resources.

[19] The Russian tea merchant Kalonymous Zeev Wissotzky left all his holdings in the family business, approximately 1 million rubles, to philanthropic causes.

The case for Haifa proved stronger, and in the end won the day:[24] In October 1909, Prussian Jewish architect Alexander Baerwald was asked to come up with a first plan for the new building.

This architect – who used to play cello in a string quartet with Albert Einstein – was inspired by the idea of blending European form with Eastern elements.

The existence of a water source on the upper slopes of Mount Carmel would transform Haifa, becoming an elemental center for the sustenance of life for the following decades and for three invading armies.

On April 11, 1912, 36 years before Israel declared independence, under the auspices of the occupying Ottoman Empire the local Jewish community turned out in full to witness the first physical implementation of a dream that had lasted for decades.

Only the outcome of World War I and the diminished German influence in Palestine would finally resolve that Hebrew would be the official language of the Technion, and later the State of Israel.

[26] The development of technical and scientific opportunities for the Jewish people and at the new Technikum in Palestine in particular was an issue Prof. Albert Einstein felt worth his investment.

[32] In the 1930s, the Institute absorbed large numbers of Jewish students and distinguished scholars from Poland, Germany, and Austria, who were fleeing the Nazi regime.

In the years preceding the establishment of the State, Technion was an active center for the Jewish underground – notably the Hagannah – and a source of technological defense solutions crucial to the struggle for independence.

Scores of Technion faculty members provided technological assistance to various countries worldwide, often under the auspices of United Nations agencies.

Recognizing the growing trend in interdisciplinary activity, Technion established several new departments, including Biomedical Engineering,[43] Computer Science,[44] Applied Mathematics,[45] and the Solid State Institute.

Throughout the upheaval and change, Technion remained at the forefront of the nation's activities – from producing technologies for guaranteeing Israel's future security, to planning cooperative regional research projects in subjects such as desalination and nuclear energy.

[18] The establishment of the Samuel Neaman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology at the Technion in 1978 further encouraged the interaction of academia, industry and government.

As well as absorbing a significant flow of high quality scientists and engineers from the former Soviet Union, Technion established technological incubator companies and structures to ensure that the new talent could be put to use.

Amos Lapidot, the tenth Commander of the Israeli Air Force, was President of the university from 1998 to 2001, and Yitzhak Apeloig, a pioneer in the computational chemistry field, from 2001 to 2009.

Avram Hershko, Aaron Ciechanover – together with colleague Irwin Rose – unraveled how the cell functions as a highly efficient checking station where proteins are built up and broken down.