On a windy winter evening in Tel Aviv, the Azrieli Fellows Program marked the opening of the 2025–2026 academic year with a community gathering at East, bringing together Fellows, alumni, staff, board members, and Foundation colleagues.
The evening opened with a reception for the incoming cohorts, during which Dr. Naomi Azrieli, Chair and CEO of the Azrieli Foundation, offered a toast welcoming the newest Fellows. She congratulated them on completing a rigorous and highly competitive selection process, and spoke about the shared values that unite the Azrieli community across disciplines, including intellectual openness, curiosity, and engagement beyond one’s own field.
Dinner and the main program followed, bringing together both new and continuing Fellows. Program Director Rochelle Avitan noted that this was the first time in more than two years that the community had been able to convene for an opening event, after repeated disruptions caused by the security situation in Israel. She emphasized the importance of gathering as a single community across all tracks, and highlighted the program’s growth into a global network of nearly 600 Fellows and alumni.
Addressing the full assembly, Dr. Naomi Azrieli reflected on the program’s development as it approaches its 20th cohort, underscoring its strong international reach and continued appeal to researchers from around the world. She reaffirmed the Foundation’s commitment to academic freedom, curiosity-driven research, and open dialogue, particularly in a period of global uncertainty for science and scholarship. She also pointed to the program’s long-term impact, noting that alumni increasingly serve as supervisors, mentors, and members of selection committees, a sign of the program’s maturity and enduring legacy.
Prof. Hermona Soreq, Senior Academic Advisor to the Azrieli Fellows Program and a molecular neuroscientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, drew on the humanist and Zionist poetry of Shaul Tchernichovsky. Referencing his poem Ani Ma’amin (“I Believe”), she spoke about faith in humanity, intellectual freedom, and moral responsibility, and reminded Fellows that academic excellence is inseparable from broader human values and belief in human potential.
Dr. Aviad Stollman, Global Director of the Azrieli Fellows Program, highlighted the program’s international growth and the central role of human capital in strong academic ecosystems. He emphasized the importance of cultivating a trusted community in which researchers feel confident asking ambitious and meaningful questions.
The main program featured two TED-style talks by alumni Fellows: Dr. Yoni Stern (University of Haifa and Rambam Medical Centre), who spoke about early detection of schizophrenia, and Prof. Meital Oren-Suissa (Weizmann Institute of Science), who presented her work on sex differences in brain research.
The evening concluded with a dessert reception and the distribution of the annual Azrieli Fellows book, formally marking the opening of the 2025–2026 academic year and reaffirming the program’s commitment to scholarly excellence, academic freedom, and community.
