HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM

Israeli university.

The creation of a Jewish university in Jerusalem that would teach subjects in Hebrew was a major cultural goal of Zionism. In 1914 land was purchased on Mount Scopus, and the cornerstone for the university was laid in 1918 by Chaim Weizmann. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem opened on 1 April 1925 in a ceremony attended by major Jewish figures and British officials. Chaim Weizmann is considered its founding father; the first chancellor was Judah Magnes. By 1947 the campus had more than 1,000 students and 200 faculty.

The 1948 Arab–Israel War left the Mount Scopus campus on the Jordanian side of divided Jerusalem. A new campus was established at Givʿat Ram in western Jerusalem. Additional campuses include the Hadassah medical school at Ein Kerem in southwest Jerusalem and an agricultural school in Rehovot. After the 1967 Arab–Israel War the Mount Scopus campus was rebuilt and expanded as the university's main campus. A full range of advanced degree programs is offered, and in 2003 nearly 23,000 students—including Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel as well as international students—attended the four campuses, taught by 1,200 tenured faculty. The multicultural makeup of the Mount Scopus campus was evidenced in the casualties from the bombing of the student cafeteria on 31 July 2002, which killed nine and wounded several dozen. Approximately 40 percent of all civilian scientific research in Israel is conducted at Hebrew University.

See also magnes, judah; weizmann, chaim.

Bibliography

Gilbert, Martin. Israel: A History. New York: Morrow, 1998.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "About the University: History." Available from <http://www.huji.ac.il/huji/eng>.

pierre m. atlas