The Dean Has Left The Building...And The School

Well, it's official: Dean Zvi Galil, the current dean of Columbia University's school of engineering and applied science (SEAS) is leaving at the end of the year. Prof. Galil is leaving my future alma mater to become the President of Tel Aviv University here in Israel.

I first met Prof. Galil this summer. I was invited to a cocktail party in Tel Aviv over the summer to hear Columbia President Lee Bolinger speak and to hopefully meet both President Bolinger and Dean Galil. Unfortunately, Dean Galil couldn't make it and I only met President Bolinger. I ended up meeting Dean Galil a few weeks later, at a cafe in Tel Aviv. I got the call to come meet him when I was already on the beach, in a tank top and bathing suit, which made for an interesting first meeting. He was only in town for 48 hours (in hindsight, probably interviewing for a job at TAU) so we took advantage of the only chance we would get.

I will be meeting Dean Galil again in a few weeks as I am invited to a reception in his honor in Tel Aviv.

Since the announcement that the Dean will be moving to TAU a number of sites have pooped up on the net. Among them is www.savezvi.com, a site where people can tell Dean Galil they want him to stay.