The Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem was founded in 1975 by Israeli mathematician Aryeh Dvoretzky, winner of the Israel Prize for Mathematics.

Visits to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey inspired Prof. Dvoretzky to establish an IAS in Jerusalem in 1975.

An IAS in Israel will fulfill a long-acknowledged need for an appropriate setting to encourage scientific and academic leadership, along with promoting the highest standard of research.

Prof. Steven Weinberg, Nobel laureate in Physics, was asked to become the director of the School, a post he held for twelve years.

Four additional Schools were established, based on the same model, in the following fields: Economics, Life Sciences, Jewish Studies and Comparative Religion, and Mathematics.