Prof. Gilad Perez, Dean of the Weizmann School of Science, formerly the Feinberg Graduate School, greeted the 384 Weizmann Institute of Science graduates at the 2024 ceremony for the conferment of MSc and PhD degrees:
“Within all the chaos that surrounds us, there is a bubble in which a small group of talented students can chase their wildest ideas, ask the most fundamental questions, and develop technologies that just yesterday were considered a dream. In recent years, we were sometimes worried that this bubble would burst and the wonder that is the Weizmann Institute would disappear. But you are proof that the wonder still exists.”
Notwithstanding the ongoing trauma, among those donning cloaks and throwing mortarboards were 57 international research students – around 15 percent of all graduates and almost double last year’s number.
In his address on behalf of the Institute's scientists, Prof. Nir Davidson acknowledged the many foreign students who continued their studies at Weizmann despite the unique difficulties and challenges facing those who chose to study and conduct research in Israel.
Weizmann Institute President Prof. Alon Chen also spoke about the distressing events that have unfolded this year.
“Even within the depths of these fateful storms, we never forgot a central goal: helping you to reach this defining moment ... and enter a world of new and fascinating missions, equipped with the knowledge and skills for continued success ... ”
The guest of honor at this year’s ceremony was Israeli entrepreneur Eyal Waldman, one of the pillars of Israel's high-tech industry and recipient of the 2024 Israel Prize for Entrepreneurship, co-founder of Mellanox. Tragically, Waldman’s daughter, Danielle, and her partner, Noam Shai, were among those murdered at the Nova music festival in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
“I'm extremely proud and moved to be standing before you, so many intelligent and talented people, and to deliver this address,” Waldman said. In closing, he pleaded for the return of the 101 hostages still being held by Hamas, and spoke about the six whose bodies had recently been returned, among them Almog Sarusi, who was in the car with his daughter and her partner when they fled: “From this podium, I call on everyone – especially the prime minister and the government of Israel – to do everything to ensure the return of the hostages from Gaza.
How do we go on?
The honor of delivering the traditional graduates’ address was shared this year by two people: Dr. Vivek Singh and Shira Baum, who completed her master's degree in Prof. Ronen Alon’s laboratory in the Immunology and Regenerative Biology Department.
In her speech, Baum shared her personal experience of sheltering at her parents’ home near the Gaza border on October 7. "These harrowing events led me to a period of confusion and forced me to face difficult questions. How do you move on when it feels like everything is meaningless? How do we continue to live and function every day when so many people, neighbors and friends I grew up with, will never return?"
Baum said she continues in hope that one day her work will help save lives: “I chose life by working and conducting my lab research this year ... My field, immunology, deals with understanding the body’s response to diseases and crises, finding solutions and medications ... a field that deals with healing ... I hope that the crisis we are experiencing will lead to healing, that we will grow as individuals and as a community, that we will be better, that we will smile again, rejoice and choose life.”
The evening ceremony on the campus in Rehovot inspired the greater Weizmann community to optimism and hope at the end of one of the most difficult years in the history of the institute.
In his emotional address, Prof. Perez told graduates, “We know we can count on you to lead us and humanity to a better future. You are our hope!”