Bob Pincus and Josh Schoenberg, two Jewish community leaders, visited the Beer-Sheva and Sde Boker campuses of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) while in Israel in March. BGU is the only Israeli university established by government mandate with a mission to develop the Negev region. Its three campuses, in Beer-Sheva, Sde Boker and Eilat, welcome over 20,000 students. Bob Pincus was honored by the Delaware Chapter of Americans for Ben-Gurion University and Josh and his wife, Gina Schoenberg, served as co-chairs for that event, the Philadelphia and Delaware Chapters Tribute Brunch held in November 2024. Fundraising for the Ben-Gurion Annual Fund in support of this event surpassed all expectations and was the most successful tribute event in recent history.
Josh’s Beer-Sheva program featured a visit to Yazamut 360˚, Ben-Gurion University’s center for entrepreneurship, conversations with student reservists, a meeting with BGU’s Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, Prof. Sarab Abu-Rabia-Queder, and a tour of the award-winning Beer-Sheva campus.
Bob’s two-day visit began in Beer-Sheva with an overview of the University, a meeting with Jeff Kaye, Vice President for Public Affairs and Resource Development, who met with Delaware Chapter officers last April, and a tour of the BGU Innovation Ecosystem. He then departed for the Sde Boker Campus, adjacent to the final resting place of David Ben-Gurion and his wife, Paula Ben-Gurion. This campus houses the world renown Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism and its Ben-Gurion Heritage Archives, comparable to a US presidential library. Bob toured the Blaustein Institutes with BGU Prof. Naftali Lazarovitch, Director of the French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, and enjoyed a visit to an off-campus research site, Evenari Farm. He completed this experience with a Jeep tour and hike in the Negev.
Although the impact of the Hamas massacre and the ensuing war has disproportionately affected the entire BGU community because of its proximity to Gaza, with resilience and determination, BGU will serve as the anchor institution for rebuilding the Negev.
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Photos provided by Ben-Gurion University Visitor’s Unit
