Tel Aviv University Eyes SEAS Dean

Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science Zvi Galil is the top choice for the position of president at Tel Aviv University, according to Haaretz, an Israeli daily newspaper.

The search committee appointed to choose a new president has agreed to submit Galil as the only candidate for the position, a senior source at the university told the newspaper. A decision is set to be made Nov. 8 by the university's executive council.

Dov Lautman, chair of the search committee, told Haaretz that "the committee will decide by the end of the week and announce its candidate. There are many worthy candidates, and we will choose the most worthy."

In 1976, Galil began his teaching career at Tel Aviv University after receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees from the school. He was appointed dean of Columbia's engineering school in 1995.

Since taking on the position of dean, Galil has solicited several donations, including a $26 million gift from Chinese businessman Charles Wei-Hsun Fu-lending the engineering school its namesake in the process. Under Galil's tenure, the admission rate to SEAS has dropped from 40 percent in 1997 to a record low of 22.7 percent in 2006.

Galil declined to comment to Spectator for this article.