2018, Herzliya; Prof. Uriel Reichman, president and founder of IDC Herzliya, together with Mr. Oudi Recanati, IDC board of directors chairman, granted on Thursday (June 8) the annual Honorary Fellows title to 7 leading women who represent Zionism, entrepreneurship, social responsibility, academy, philanthropy and business success in recognition of their outstanding contribution towards the State of Israel, the Jewish people and IDC Herzliya.
Recipients of IDC Herzliya Honorary Fellowship:
Daphna Cramer, philanthropist and supporter of excellence in academia; Liora Ofer, Prominent business woman and philanthropist; Dr. Judith Richter, Founding partner at Medinol and a leading medical innovator; Prof. Michal Schwartz, Ground breaking researcher, Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science; Loralee West, Philanthropist; Maj. (Res.) Roni Zuckerman, First female fighter pilot; vice president of engineering, operations and purchasing at an energy company; Yael Arad, Social entrepreneur, first-ever Israeli athlete to win an Olympic medal, member of the Israeli Olympic Board, businesswoman and an IDC Herzliya Alumna.
In recognition of the spirit of entrepreneurship and excellence that she brings to the Israeli business world as a manager and a lecturer; for her sense of social commitment; and for her contribution to the promotion of sport as a bridge between people and religions, the Wind Annual Social Entrepreneurship Award was granted to Yael Arad.
Prof. Reichman, greeted the honorary fellows at the ceremony and said: "Progress, change, and achievements are always contingent upon major efforts, and often loneliness, until you reach success. Not everyone has the ability and the strength to cope, with themselves and their surroundings until breaching into new fields. We stand here today to honor a group of women who have proven in various fields the same tremendous human quality, the inner turmoil that produces change, which is usually one of the noblest expressions of mankind.
The highest recognition given by IDC is awarded to seven women not for being woman, but because of their background and achievements. In past years this title was awarded to both men and women. This year, we decided to give this recognition only to women because it includes a message that the Israeli society still needs. The time of any kind of discrimination against one group or another in society has passed, and IDC now stands against elements that still exist in Israeli society, who wish to take us back to earlier times and to enforce an archaic and unacceptable world of concepts".
Dr. Richter spoke on behalf of the Honorary Fellows: "A concept that reiterates itself in the judges' reasoning for granting the honorary fellowship is the term 'first' or primacy. The concept of being first also characterizes the prestigious institution we are at - IDC Herzliya. David Ben-Gurion said that pioneering is the recognition of a historic mission and an unconditional and unobstructed posture, in front of any difficulty or danger. Today we regard this primacy as entrepreneurship. Today's entrepreneurs are the ones who revive the concept of historic pioneering. I believe that we represent the innovative first, which stems from a non-acceptance of the existing reality. It takes love, addiction, devotion and passion until achievements are reached. All in all, we strived towards a goal that we have defined for ourselves and only in retrospect, others have declared us as pioneers".
https://www.idc.ac.il/en/whatsup/pages/idc_herzliya_awards_honorary_fellowship.aspx