The Technion’s story has been intertwined with Israel’s for more than a century, from laying the foundations for a new nation to shaping its future.
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Maj. Gen. Horev served in the Palmach, the elite fighting force of the Jewish underground army during the British Mandate for Palestine. He started to study mechanical engineering at the Technion, but his education was cut short with the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1948. He fought in Jerusalem and in the Negev and participated in the Burma Road convoy that broke the siege of Jerusalem. After the war, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then continued his military career as the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Ordnance, Quartermaster General, and Chief Scientist.
From 1973 to 1982, Maj. Gen. Horev served as President of the Technion, while also helping Rafael transform from a unit within the Ministry of Defense to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. During his Technion tenure, he was instrumental in doubling the size of the campus and constructing the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine building. To support the students’ well-being, he had faculty members give lectures at Army outposts during the Yom Kippur War, and he established the university’s Psychological Services and an audio-visual library for self-study. He hired students for security and cleaning jobs to help make ends meet, and also helped establish student dorms, the university’s first pool, and the sports facilities. Maj. Gen. Horev continues today to serve as a member of the Technion Board of Directors and is Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors.
“You always had a warm place in your heart for the students and looked for ways to support them. That is why we thought that the arena, which will serve many generations of students in the future, is an exceptionally fitting way to thank you for everything you have done for Technion students,” said Technion Vice President and CEO Professor Boaz Golany.
The Technion family thanks donors Robert Polak of Chicago, Ill.; William and Cynthia Marcus of Chestnut Hill, Mass.; former president of both the ATS – New England and National American Technion Society boards Edward Goldberg of Bozeman, Mont.; and Drs. Nathan and Fariba Fischel of Los Angeles, Calif., alumni of the class of 1983, for their generous contributions to building the new arena.
