Leadership

The Board of Directors of the institute is responsible for determining the long-term strategic policy for research and teaching, for scientific development, and for the proper management of the institute's budget. The board is composed of representatives from the partner universities and two public representatives, as recommended by the Chairman of the Council of University Presidents.

Observers

Adv. Anat Tal
Legal Advisor

 

Mr. Modi Pillersdorf, MBA
Administrative Director of the Institute

 

Prof. Uri Shavit
Observer on behalf of the Rectors' Forum of VERA (Technion)

 

Prof. Laura Stindler
Observer on behalf of the Rectors' Forum of VERA (Haifa University)

 

Prof. Moshe Kepelawi
Observer on behalf of the Resident Scientists (Ben-Gurion University)

The institute holds annual interuniversity courses open to students from all higher education institutions in Israel and hosts university courses. The teaching committee is responsible, among other things, for all teaching-related matters at the institute, including course scheduling, developing new courses and discontinuing existing ones, appointing instructors and junior teaching staff, monitoring the quality of teaching at the institute, and setting criteria for student admission to courses. The committee is chaired by one of the resident scientists, and in addition, the scientific director and three other researchers from the partner institutions, excluding the Hebrew University, serve on the committee.

This committee is responsible for all matters related to diving activities at the institute, with an emphasis on diving safety. The committee is headed by one of the resident scientists, and includes the diving officer, the administrative manager, a diving physician, and researchers with relevant knowledge and experience. Additionally, the committee functions as the safety committee in accordance with the procedures of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS), under whose framework the institute operates regarding scientific diving.

Past Leadership

In 1968, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem inaugurated the Marine Biology Laboratory (MBL) in Eilat, led by Prof. Heinz Steinitz, who conceived, initiated, and carried out its establishment. From its inauguration until 1984, the site operated as the Hebrew University’s Marine Biology Laboratory. Since 1984, its research and teaching infrastructures have functioned as the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat (IUI).

Directors of the Marine Biology Laboratory, 1968–1984

1968–1971 – The Marine Biology Laboratory was managed by its founder, Prof. Heinz Steinitz. Following his passing in April 1971, the laboratory was named in his memory.

1971–1984 – The “H. Steinitz Marine Biology Laboratory” was managed by faculty members of the Hebrew University and a resident scientist in Eilat, who oversaw daily operations:

• From 1971–1982, the position rotated among Profs. Dov Por, Moshe Shilo, Zeev Reiss, and briefly Dov Koller. The role of local director was held in sequence by Drs. Ilan Paperna, Yehuda Cohen, and Jonathan Erez.
• In 1982–1984, management shifted to Prof. Itzhak Parnas, who appointed Avi Baranes as local director.

Leadership of the Interuniversity Institute, from 1984

In 1984, the Hebrew University and the Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC) decided to change the status of the H. Steinitz Marine Biology Laboratory from a university-based laboratory to an interuniversity institute jointly shared by all Israeli research universities. To ensure proper representation, the IUI was structured with three leadership roles:

• Scientific Director – a professor from the Hebrew University.
• Chair of the Managing Board – a professor from another Israeli university.
• Administrative Director – a resident manager.

Chairs of the Managing Board

 

Name	Period	Institution
Prof. Yoel Gat (the late)	[dates missing]	Weizmann Institute of Science
Prof. Yossi Loya	1996–1999	Tel Aviv University
Prof. Zvi Dubinsky (the late)	2000–2008	Bar-Ilan University
Prof. Shlomo (Steve) Brenner	2008–2012	Bar-Ilan University
Prof. Daniel Weihs	2012–2019	Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Shmuel (Shmulik) Marco	2019–2023	Tel Aviv University
Prof. Yitzhak Mastai	2024–Present	Bar-Ilan University

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scientific Directors

Name	Period
Prof. Micha Spira	1984–1986
Prof. Boaz Luz	1986–1989
Prof. Micha Spira	1989–1996
Prof. Jonathan Erez	1996–2001
Prof. Michael Ottolenghi (the late)	2001–2006
Prof. Aaron Kaplan	2006–2012
Prof. Amatzia Genin	2012–2018
Prof. Jaap van Rijn	2018–2021
Prof. Nir Keren	2021–Present

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Administrative Directors

 

Name	Period
Dr. Avi Baranes	1984–2004
Prof. Danny Chernov	2004–2009
Dr. Efrat Fine	2009–2019
Mr. Modi Pillersdorf, MBA, M.Sc.	2019–Present