Amnon Pazy
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Amnon Pazy (; 10 January 1936 – 17 August 2006) was an Israeli
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
who specialized in
partial differential equations In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which involves a multivariable function and one or more of its partial derivatives. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" that solves the equation, similar to how ...
(PDE), making important contributions to the PDE field and
Semigroup In mathematics, a semigroup is an algebraic structure consisting of a set together with an associative internal binary operation on it. The binary operation of a semigroup is most often denoted multiplicatively (just notation, not necessarily th ...
s. He served as president of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
and was the chairman of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the
Council for Higher Education in Israel The Council for Higher Education in Israel (, ''HaMo'atza LeHaskala Gevoha'') is a supervisory body for universities and colleges in Israel. It is the only organization with the authority to award academic educational accreditation. The head of th ...
. He also had a brief appearance as a background character in “Friends,” season 9.


Early life

Amnon Pazy was born in
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
in
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...
on January 10, 1936. During his childhood he lived in Kiryat Bialik and was educated in
Kiryat Motzkin Kiryat Motzkin () is a city in the Haifa District of Israel, north of the city center of Haifa. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, in it had a population of . However, as of September 2024, the unofficial population count is 55 ...
. In his youth, he was the Israeli champion in the 60 meter run, and the youth champion in
long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...
.


Academic career

After graduating from high-school he studied
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
and
physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
in the Academic Reserve program ( Atuda program of the
Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...
). After completing his studies, he joined the team of scientists that established the nuclear field in Israel. As part of his training he was sent in 1958 to study
nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and was later employed for a year by the French Atomic Energy Commission. Pazy returned to
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
in 1961 and lived in
Beer Sheva Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most po ...
with his wife, while working at the Nuclear Research Center in
Dimona Dimona (, ) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arabah, Arava valley in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel. In , its population was . The Shimon Pere ...
. Upon the first time the Dimona reactor reached criticality in 1963, making it operational, Pazy left his work at the Nuclear Center and continued his studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Studying mathematics, he conducted his
doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
studies under the guidance of Professor Shmuel Agmon. After completing his PhD studies he accepted a postdoctoral position as an
assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...
at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
and later on at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. He returned to Israel in 1969 accepting a position at the
Einstein Institute of Mathematics The Einstein Institute of Mathematics () is a centre for scientific research in mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, founded in 1925 with the opening of the university. A leading research institute, the institute's faculty has inclu ...
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A few years later his mathematical book on partial differential equations and semigroups, written during a
sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work; "an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job." The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Bi ...
at the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
in 1973, was defined as a "classic book" and has since been highly cited. Between the years 1972 and 1977, Pazy was the editor in chief of the ''
Israel Journal of Mathematics '' Israel Journal of Mathematics'' is a peer-reviewed mathematics journal published by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem ( Magnes Press). History Founded in 1963, as a continuation of the ''Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel'' (Section ...
'', and later acted as both an Editor and member of its board of directors.


Hebrew University

In 1978, Pazy was appointed head of the Einstein Institute of Mathematics, and from 1983 to 1986 he served as the Rector of the Hebrew University. As Rector he implemented his new policy of academic appointments, as well as promoting the opening of the Jerusalem Botanical Garden at Givat Ram and the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine. In 1986, following a financial crisis, Professor Don Patinkin who was then the President of the Hebrew University, resigned from his position, and Pazy was elected as the new president of the Hebrew University. Based on his academic appointments' plan, Pazy immediately initiated recovery steps which helped the university to recover from the crisis. Four years later, after the university attained financial equilibrium, Pazy resigned from his position as president in 1990 and was succeeded by
Yoram Ben-Porat Yoram Ben-Porat (also, Ben-Porath; ; born 1937; died October 18, 1992) was an Israeli academic and economist. He served as president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1990 until his death in 1992 in an automobile accident at the age of 55. ...
. In 1991 Pazy was elected as the Chairman of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the
Council for Higher Education in Israel The Council for Higher Education in Israel (, ''HaMo'atza LeHaskala Gevoha'') is a supervisory body for universities and colleges in Israel. It is the only organization with the authority to award academic educational accreditation. The head of th ...
, serving in this position until 1997. Pazy returned to his job as a mathematics professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and continued teaching.


Council for Higher Education in Israel

Pazy was elected in 1991 as chairman of Planning and Budgeting Committee of The
Council for Higher Education in Israel The Council for Higher Education in Israel (, ''HaMo'atza LeHaskala Gevoha'') is a supervisory body for universities and colleges in Israel. It is the only organization with the authority to award academic educational accreditation. The head of th ...
. From the beginning of his term, Pazy foresaw that from 1991 to 2001, there would be a rapid rise in demand for higher education due to natural population growth,
immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...
from the USSR, and more people seeking an academic education. In order to meet the expected demand, it was decided to widen the scope of the higher education system by establishing new research institutions and teaching colleges. Academic colleges were opened to respond to the needs of students seeking professional advancement, address the country's need for people with academic training and slash tuition costs. Pazy objected to political intervention: The planning process of the higher education system must take into account the delicate balance between the needs of the state for educated and skilled personnel, and the public demand for high level academic education. Pazy's plan for the development of the colleges was submitted to the Planning and Budgeting Committee in 1993 and approved by the Council for Higher Education, which was subsequently adopted by the government and was used by law to expand it into private colleges (Government Decision No. 3964 of 28.9.1994).


Public affairs

Pazy was the head of the Hebrew University's Academic Planning Unit, chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Institute for Testing and Evaluation, member of the Israeli Mathematical Journals Board, representative of the National Academy at the Board of Governors of the BSF (Israel-USA Bi-National Foundation) and a member of the executive committee of the Jerusalem Foundation. Pazy also served on the board of directors of CHE (Center for the Development of Higher Education in Germany), which he co-founded (1994–2004) In 1985–2005, he was the Israeli delegate to PUGWASH, an international organization working to block the proliferation of non-conventional weapons. In the early 2000s, Pazy realized that there would not be enough physicians in the country in fifteen years. To tackle the problem, he established a committee which recommending opening a new medical school. Pazy was also a member of a special strategic planning committee headed by former deputy prime minister Dan Meridor.


Awards and recognition

Pazy's legacy is honored by several awards and organizations, including a special annual award given by the United States – Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), and grants given by the IAEC-UPBC Joint Research Foundation. The SARAF accelerator building in the Soreq Nuclear Research Center is named after him. * Honorary Fellow of the
Open University of Israel The Open University of Israel (, ''Ha-Universita ha-Ptuha'') is a distance education, distance-education university in Israel. It is one of ten public universities in Israel recognized by the Council of Higher Education (CHE). Open University ...
* Solomon Bublick Award,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
(2002) * Honorary doctor, Technion (2006) * Worthy Person of the Atomic Energy Commission


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pazy, Amnon 1936 births Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem 20th-century Israeli mathematicians 21st-century Israeli mathematicians Solomon Bublick Award recipients 2006 deaths Presidents of universities in Israel Burials at Har HaMenuchot