Foundation Gives $15 million to HUJI Rehovot's Agricultural Branch

Smith Foundation gives Hebrew U. $15 million

The Robert H. Smith Family Foundation pledged $15 million to The Hebrew University of Jerusalem for promoting sustainable agriculture.

The grant, which will go to the univeristy's Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences in Rehovot, is part of a $51 million "Feeding the Future through Sustainable Agriculture” campaign to put the school at the forefront of research into sustainable agriculture.

The money will fund a reorganization and expansion of Hebrew Univeristy's interdisciplinary research in plant and animal sciences, biochemistry, nutrition and environmental studies, the school said in a release.

The project includes new buildings, state-of-the-art laboratories and greenhouses and more collaborative work between four academic institutions addressing major challenges such as hunger and malnutrition, natural resource scarcity and the impact of global warming.

The faculty for the program will be called “The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences.”

Source: JTA, 22 Feb 2008