100 years ago, in December 1924, the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology welcomed its first class of 17 students, consisting of 1 women and 16 men. Their studies, mainly focusing on architecture and construction engineering, took place in the now-historic Technion building in Haifa’s Hadar neighborhood. Most of the lecturers were Jewish professors who had recently immigrated from Europe and hardly knew Hebrew, and the teaching infrastructure was extremely limited. Nevertheless, one of the world’s top ten technological research universities evolved from those modest wooden benches of that first class.
The Technion laid the groundwork for the young country and has been closely tied to its development since its establishment. I am not aware of any other university in the world whose influence on the country where it is located matches the Technion’s impact on the State of Israel. As the late Shimon Peres used to say: “Israel is lucky that the Technion preceded the State by a quarter of a century and not the other way around.”
The Technion and its alumni have consistently shouldered the development of Israel’s civil and security infrastructure. During those early days, a unique approach towards research and education was embedded in the Technion, so that in addition to aspiring towards excellence in research and education like all research universities, we also feel a deep sense of responsibility for Israel’s security, economy, and society.
Four Nobel Prize laureates have emerged from the Technion:
Distinguished Prof. Avram Hershko, Distinguished Prof. Aaron Ciechanover, Distinguished Prof. Dan Shechtman, and Technion graduate Distinguished Prof. Arieh Warshel.
In addition to the campuses in Haifa, today the Technion also boasts two international campuses in China and New York.
If we were able to accomplish all of this in the first 100 years, just imagine what the future will bring. Prof. Uri Sivan, President of the Technion.
