Through the initiative of the Andrei Sakharov Foundation, with enthusiastic support of the School of Physics and Astronomy and through generosity of our donors, the Andrei Sakharov Excellence in Physics was officially inaugurated. This year, twenty-five talented 3-rd year physics students received Sakharov awards, supporting their early scientific endeavors.
The School held a colloquium dedicated to Sakharov’s physics. Professor Leonid Gurvits, an astrophysicist from the Netherlands, delivered a poignant address to the full auditorium. A lecture by Professor Yuval Grossman of Cornell University provided great insights into the relevance of Sakharov’s scientific work, highlighting the breakthroughs in the new areas, which arose from Sakharov’s early work and which earned the scientists several Nobel prizes in the process.
In Israel a junction on the busy road entering Jerusalem bears his name, called Sakharov Gardens. There is also Andrei Sakharov Street in Haifa. A modest memorial in a small town of Bene Ayish, lists the names of nine righteous people, who include, among others, Andrei Sakharov, Raul Wallenberg and Oskar Schindler. Now, we are reminded of Sakharov’s legacy through the academic program at one of the leading universities of the world.
The ASF expresses hope that many talented students at TAU today will find relevance and inspiration in the legacy of Andrei Sakharov, a physicist who upheld the values of peaceful co-existence and intellectual freedom, which are as relevant as ever today.
