Rivka Carmi

Prof. Rivka Carmi served as President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev from 2006 to 2018 and previously as dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at BGU. A graduate of Hadassah Medical School at the Hebrew University, she is a board-certified Pediatrician, Neonatologist and Medical Geneticist who served as Director of the Genetics Institute at Soroka University Medical Center. In 2010, she became the first woman to chair Israel’s Committee of University Heads. Carmi’s research, with over 150 publications, focuses on the delineation of the clinical manifestations and molecular basis of genetic diseases in the Negev Arab-Bedouin population, where she has identified 12 new genes and delineated 2 new syndromes, one named after her (OMIM #226730). Carmi has received numerous honors, notably Honorary Doctorates from Dalhousie and Brandeis Universities, the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) title by Queen Elizabeth II, and the Landau Lifetime Award in Medicine. Carmi serves as Founding President of the Israel National Academy for Science in Medicine under the auspices of the Israeli Medical Association; Chair of the ScienceAbroad executive committee; Chair of the TELEM Scientific Advisory Council for Bioconvergence; Chair of the advisory committee for medical education of the Council for Higher Education; board member of 8400 Health Network, and Desert Stars, and holds prominent roles in various boards and committees dedicated to advancing medical education and innovation, and the advancement of women.