Zvi Arad
Encyclopedia
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i mathematician and president of Netanya Academic College
Netanya Academic College
Netanya Academic College is a private college based in Netanya, Israel. Established in 1994 by a team from Bar-Ilan University, it has an enrolment of around 4,000 undergraduate students...
.
Biography
Subsequent to the completion of his high school education he began his academic studies in the Mathematics Department of Bar-Ilan UniversityBar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...
. He received his first degree in 1964 and after army service went on to complete a second and third degree in the Mathematics Department of Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
. In 1968 he joined the academic staff at Bar-Ilan University as an assistant and in 1983 was appointed a Full professor. During the years 1978/9 he held the position of Visiting Scientist at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, and from 1982 to 1983 held the position of visiting Professor at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
.
Arad has held a variety of senior academic posts; including at Bar-Ilan University as Head of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Rector, and President of the University. Together with Professor Bernard Pinchuk he founded and established "Gelbart Institute" an international research institute and the "Emmy Noether Institute" (Minerva Center). Together with colleagues he established the Mathematic journal – Israel Mathematics Conference Proceedings, distributed by the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
(AMS). From 1984–1985 he served as a member of the Council for Higher Education of the State of Israel. In 1982 he was elected a member of Russia's Academy of Natural Sciences.
Since 1994 he has served on the editorial board of the Algebra Colloquium, a journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences , formerly known as Academia Sinica, is the national academy for the natural sciences of the People's Republic of China. It is an institution of the State Council of China. It is headquartered in Beijing, with institutes all over the People's Republic of China...
published by Springer-Verlag. He also serves on the editorial board of various international publications: South East Asian Bulletin of Mathematics of the Asian Mathematical Society, the IMCP of Contemporary Mathematics published by the American Mathematical Society, and the publication Cubo Matemática Educacional, Temuco
Temuco
Temuco is a city and commune, capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The name comes from the Mapudungun language, meaning "temu water"; "temu" is a tree used by Mapuches for medicinal purposes. The city is located 670 km south of Santiago...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.
Zvi Arad has participated in many academic projects, and has also specialized in projects concerning the advancement of higher education in Israel. He has initiated numerous agreements of cooperation with various universities and institutions throughout the world including academic institutes in the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, universities and research centers in America, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, etc. He was a member of Israel's first official delegation to the former USSR, under the leadership of President Ezer Weizman
Ezer Weizman
' was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Air Force and Minister of Defense.-Biography:...
. In an official address, President Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
mentioned Professor Arad's contributions towards the establishment of scientific communications between Israel and the former USSR. In an effort to advance cooperation in research he has headed delegations of scientists to Russia, China, and East Germany.
In the newspaper Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
(January 21, 1998) he was described as one of the pioneers in the reform of higher education in Israel. The Encyclopaedia Hebraica
Encyclopaedia Hebraica
The Encyclopaedia Hebraica is a comprehensive encyclopedia in the Hebrew language that was published in the latter half of the 20th century.-History:...
lists Zvi Arad as "fulfilling a key role in the development and advancement of Bar-Ilan University and in the establishment of the University's regional colleges in Safed
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, Ashkelon
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
and the Jordan Valley)
Jordan Valley (Middle East)
The Jordan Valley forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. It is 120 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide, where it runs from Lake Tiberias in the north to northern Dead Sea in the south. It runs for an additional 155 kilometer south of the Dead Sea to Aqaba, an area also known as Wadi...
." For this achievement he was awarded a certificate of honor by the mayor of each city. The establishment of these colleges began in 1985 and went on to affect the whole of Israel. These colleges advanced the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
and Southern Israel
South District (Israel)
The Southern District is one of Israel's six administrative districts, and is the largest in terms of land area as well as the most sparsely populated. It covers most of the Negev desert, as well as the Arabah valley. The population of the Southern District is 1,002,400. It is 86% Jewish and 14%...
and brought higher education to the peripheries of Israel.
In 1994, at the request of the mayors of the city of Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...
, Yoel Elroi and Zvi Poleg, Professor Arad established the Netanya Academic College
Netanya Academic College
Netanya Academic College is a private college based in Netanya, Israel. Established in 1994 by a team from Bar-Ilan University, it has an enrolment of around 4,000 undergraduate students...
. A partner in the initiation and establishment of the college was Miriam Feirberg
Miriam Feirberg
Miriam Feirberg Ikar is the mayor of Netanya, a city in the Centre District of Israel. Feirberg is the first female mayor in Netanya and one of the few women who have served as mayors of Israeli cities....
, who at that time served as head of the Education Department of the City of Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...
. Today the college is an accredited institute of higher education and is authorized to grant first and second academic degrees in a variety of fields.
Professor Arad, together with his colleague Professor Marcel Herzog, wrote the book Products of Conjugacy Classes, published by Springer-Verlag. The book facilitated the basis of the establishment of mathematical theory and today forms part of the branch of abstract algebra
Abstract algebra
Abstract algebra is the subject area of mathematics that studies algebraic structures, such as groups, rings, fields, modules, vector spaces, and algebras...
known as Table Algebras, and is attached to central branches in mathematics: Graph theory
Graph theory
In mathematics and computer science, graph theory is the study of graphs, mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects from a certain collection. A "graph" in this context refers to a collection of vertices or 'nodes' and a collection of edges that connect pairs of...
, algebra combinations, and theory presentation. Professor Arad is counted amongst the leaders in this field. Recently, Professor Arad has complied two further books with colleagues on the subject of table algebra. In 2000 his book was published in the series American Mathematical Society Memoirs and in January 2002 another book on table algebras was published in the international publication, Springer. In 2006 Professor Arad was the editor of Contemporary Mathematics, Volume 402. Professor Arad has had some 90 articles published in various international articles.