d thinkers who turned the idea of
establishing a science department into a new and exciting field and into a
spectacular and groundbreaking reality.
This is how Ginzburg described the seeds planted in him:
"On a sabbatical year in 1965 I came to Carnegie-Mellon University in
Pittsburgh, USA, on the day the Department of Computer Science was opened. For
two years I worked there and learned the great importance of developing the new
industry, combining theory with practice. I believed that the field would
contribute greatly to the development and resilience of the State of Israel at
the scientific and practical level."
Ginzburg was born in 1926 in Belarus. In 1949 he immigrated to Israel and began
studying at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Technion, where he
studied two of his degrees and went on to pursue a PhD in mathematics, also at
the Technion. Upon completion of his doctorate, he was appointed a lecturer in
the Department of Mathematics at the Technion. From 1965 to 1967 he was a
visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University. In 1969 he led the
establishment of the Department of Computer Science and headed it. Later in his
career at the Technion, he served as Vice President Deputy and Vice President for
Development.
In 1976, Ginzburg was called upon to join, as vice president, in the founding of
the Open University and served as president from 1977–1987, and so he wrote in
the presidential report at the end of his term: "In submitting this last report,
it seems to me appropriate to summarize, and the summary is brief: a university
has been built."
Abraham Ginzburg was a teacher, a man of vision, who dared to dream, to think
and to explore, but above all, he was a man of action who turned vision into
action and grew mighty enterprises.
In his humble way, Prof. Ginzburg left us a wealth of provisions -
dream, dare, and work tirelessly to make your dream come true.
יהי זכרו ברוך