100th Anniversary of Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Floor Speech

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Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I am thrilled to recognize the centennial of Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The American Friends of Hebrew University, AFHU, is helping to celebrate 100 years of accomplishment and toast the next generation of visionaries who will carry forward this tradition to the next century and beyond.

Hebrew University is home to over 23,000 students and 1,400 researchers across six campuses. Faculty and alumni have received 9 Nobel Prizes and registered more than 11,000 patents. Its impact has shaped not just Israel but the whole world, including in Virginia through the Mid-Atlantic Branch of AFHU. Benefactors of HU and this celebration include so many whose legacy can be seen across Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region: the family and descendants of Charles E. Smith, the Theodore and Annette Lerner Family Foundation, Sheryl and Bradley Schwartz, Susie and Michael Gelman, and many more.

I would be especially remiss not to recognize my friends Bill and Bobbie Kilberg. Bill is president of the mid-Atlantic region of the AFHU and a member of the board of governors, among many other stops in his legal and business career. Bobbie is president and CEO emerita of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, an entity that has done so much to shape the Virginia economy of today.

As I reflect on the interweaving strands of academic excellence embodied by Hebrew University and the economic and technological innovation for which Israel is renowned, I see a story that has played out in Virginia and elsewhere. Virginia's technology economy has blossomed in just a few short decades, largely due to its first-rate higher education sector, careful attention to cultivating a strong workforce, and the efforts of organizations like NVTC and people like Bill and Bobbie to cultivate those resources. Today, it is home to innovative companies, large and small, and exports its goods and services to the world through an international airport and international seaport. We are economically stronger when we invest in our people. Our people are stronger when we invest in education and workforce.

The change that Hebrew University has seen over the past century is profound, in some ways miraculous. Your steadfast support has produced this positive change, and that change continues today. You have my fondest wishes for the celebration of the century, and I look forward to what the next century will bring.

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