The Innovation Centers of the Hebrew University and of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have won 2 of the world’s most prestigious prizes in higher education entrepreneurship.

ASPER - HUJI Innovate, the Hebrew University Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, has recently received the “Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center” award. The award was announced during the GCEC conference, an event organized by top academic innovation organizations from around the world. GCEC, the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers, comprises entrepreneurship centers from more than 300 universities, and presents awards to the leading centers on an annual basis. In this year’s awards, The Hebrew University won the “Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center” award alongside Yale University and East Carolina University.

“There’s virtue in perseverance - in 2019 we were proud to be a finalist, and this year we were delighted to receive the award. We feel it provides important validation for the innovation center and the Hebrew University and will contribute significantly to our global brand”, said Dr. Amnon Dekel, Executive Director of ASPER-HUJI Innovate. It’s important to note that this is the first time that an institution outside of the United States has won this award. Happily,  this year, the Hebrew University wasn’t the only Israeli institute to be recognized: the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev won the award for “Outstanding Student Engagement & Leadership”.

The award winners were announced as part of the GCEC conference held in Baltimore earlier this month, hosted by representatives from Loyola University Maryland and the University of Baltimore. Awards were announced in 9 categories, including: “OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO VENTURE CREATION”, “EXCELLENCE IN SPECIALTY ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION”, “EXCELLENCE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP TEACHING AND PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION”, “EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESEARCH” and OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO VENTURE CREATION”. A total of 65 academic institutions have been considered, with Israeli institutions winning two awards of twenty. The award ceremony was held this year for the second time.

ASPER - HUJI Innovate Deputy Director, Ayelet Cohen (photographed below, accepting the prize together with Yotam Zach, Program manager at ASPER-HUJI Innovate), represented the Hebrew University in the event. “We were delighted to represent the Hebrew University at the GCEC conference, and to have been invited to introduce our Innovation Leaders program, which prepares students to lead innovation communities,” she said. “During the award ceremony, we were delighted to discover that we were chosen as the world’s Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center. I thought of our love for education and working with students, and of our incredible team that succeeds in helping 6,000 students annually to discover and develop their entrepreneurial abilities, and use them to make the world a better place. Our program supports 12 entrepreneurial communities. Some promote a connection between our students and different industries, including cognitive sciences, electrical engineering and spacetech. Others, such as the women-led innovation community or the Arabic language community, contribute to building a more inclusive entrepreneurial society. All-in-all, our program interfaces with dozens of startups and social impact organizations who have cumulatively raised millions of dollars and create continuous positive impact on our society and on the environment.”