Professor Tamir Sheafer was chosen by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU)’s Senate as the university’s new rector.
Sheafer has served as Dean of HU’s Faculty of Social Sciences for the last six years.
His field of expertise is digital and comparative communications. Over the past two decades, Sheafer has led several international research groups to study the impact of political systems and the strength of democracy on that country’s political processes and communications.
Sheafer has helmed the University’s digital political communication research laboratory, developing new methods for automated textual analysis of political narratives based on deep learning models. Under his leadership as dean, the Faculty of Social Sciences gained international status among first-rate scholars and outstanding students. Sheafer replaces Prof. Barak Medina who held the rectorship for the last five years.
During his tenure, Medina implemented a series of reforms to improve the quality of research and teaching at the university, strengthen individual relationships between faculty members and students, increase financial aid and scholarships available to students, and promote a spirit of multiculturalism, diversity, and sexual equality throughout our campuses. Further, Medina promoted the university’s external relationships with government bodies, the private sector and civil organisations. Under his watch, Hebrew University regained its stature as the leading academic institution in Israel and its ranking as one of the top 90 universities worldwide.
Prof. Asher Cohen, president of the University, welcomed the appointment: “Tamir Sheafer is an outstanding researcher and teacher. He played a vital role in making the Faculty of Social Sciences an attractive meeting place for faculty and students. I would also like to thank Prof. Barak Medina for leading our University to remarkable achievements, always with the pursuit of excellence as his north star.”