Gad Avigad, Ph.D., honored through endowed Hebrew University biochemistry chair

Gad Avigad, Ph.D.,an Israeli-American biochemist, endowed the Gad Avigad Chair in Biochemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) through a $1.5 million legacy gift. The gift was commemorated during a ceremony at the 89th Board of Governors Meeting on Oct. 20 in Jerusalem.

Avigad’s name was inscribed on the Hebrew University Wall for Endowed Chairs and Lectureships, which honors individuals who fund specific academic positions, fellowships or research.

Professor Danny Ben-Zvi holds the Gad Avigad Chair in Biochemistry at the Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine. He is also a professor and vice dean for external relations and science, as well as co-director of the Center for Computational Medicine. In his laboratory, Ben-Zvi studies fundamental questions in endocrinology, metabolism and metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. His research aims to deepen the understanding of normal physiological processes and apply these insights to the study and treatment of disease.

“It is a great honor to visit Hebrew University, where both my father and grandfather were professors and researchers who helped the State of Israel thrive in its earliest days,” said Rachel Avigad, who attended the ceremony. “This legacy endowment is a meaningful way to perpetuate his memory and support Israel’s preeminent university.”

Avigad (1930-2025) specialized in sugar biochemistry and carbohydrate metabolism. He published more than 100 papers and held one patent. In 1967, he moved from Israel to the United States, where he became a professor at Rutgers University’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey.

Avigad endowed the Nahman Avigad Chair in Biblical Archaeology, named in honor of his father, Nahman Avigad, an archaeologist known for his work in modern Israel. Following the Six-Day War, the elder Avigad’s excavations in Jerusalem revealed much of the history of the Jewish Quarter from the Second Temple and Byzantine periods. He also interpreted one of the Dead Sea Scrolls and excavated at Masada and Beit She’arim, among other sites.

In 1957, Avigad received the Israel Prize in exact sciences. He earned his doctorate from the Hebrew University in 1958 and later became a professor of biochemistry there.