June 13, 2022—Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino received an honorary degree—“Doctor Philosophiae Honoris Causa”—from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) at a festive ceremony during the 85^th Board of Governors (BOG) meeting.

Tarantino was cited, “In recognition of his critically acclaimed cinematic success as a writer, director, and actor; honoring his 10 blockbuster movies and numerous Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and the Palme d’Or award; in admiration of the scope of his artistic vision, creating films that span genres, historical periods, and themes; and in tribute to his strong ties to Israel through his wife Daniella, and for making Israel his second home.”

Tarantino joined 19 “Leaders for Tomorrow,” including Lord Jonathan Sacks z’l, theologian, author, and philosopher; Lotte Bailyn, an early pioneer and role model for world-class female academics; Haim Be’er, Israeli author; Stanley Bergman, public service and business leader; Rébecca Boukhris, accomplished banker and Adelis Foundation Director; Jeffery Dangl, plant biologist; Lee Epstein, legal scholar; John Gager, early Christianity scholar; Sigalit Landau, Israeli artist; Gerard Meijer, experimental molecular physicist; Jose Mugrabi, business leader and art collector; Joseph Neubauer, philanthropist and business leader; Leonid Nevzlin, Israeli philanthropist and publisher; Jehuda Reinharz, a path-breaking scholar of Jewish history; Jurgen Renn, an expert on the evolution of knowledge; Sami Sagol, business leader and philanthropist; Joshua Sanes, neurobiologist; and Sylvia Soyka, role model and business leader.

The Hebrew University awards honorary degrees to persons who have distinguished themselves by academic or creative achievement, who have rendered outstanding service to the university, or whose activities have been of notable benefit to humanity, the State of Israel, or the Jewish people. The 2022 honorees received their degrees alongside 287 HU Ph.D. students.

As Professor Asher Cohen, President of HU, noted, “Leaders inspire. They show us the way forward and light up the path for those who follow. Our honorees are all driven by a pioneering spirit and a deep sense of mission, whether in the field of academia, business, civic service, or philanthropy, and their contributions are boundless.”  The BOG provides international participants an insider’s view of Jerusalem’s up-and-coming leaders, with a special focus on pioneering women, computational medicine, digital innovation, and climate science.

To cap the festivities, a cornerstone was laid for the new Andres Cohen Deloro Computational Medicine Building at HU’s Ein Kerem Campus. As Dr. Dina Ben Yehuda, dean of HU’s Faculty of Medicine shared, “This building will train the next generation of scientists and clinicians to be ‘fluent’ not only in human health but in the computational tools which can be used to advance health and wellbeing.” In addition, the new Asper-HUJI Innovate building was dedicated at HU’s Edmond J. Safra Campus, bringing Israel’s medicine and entrepreneurial mindset into the next century.