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English profile follows below.

Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv. Formed 1956 from three earlier institutes. Israel's largest university by enrollment.

Tel Aviv University was formed in 1956 through the merger of three earlier institutions: the Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics, the Institute of Natural Sciences, and the Institute of Jewish Studies. It is now Israel's largest university by enrollment, with roughly 30,000 students, nine faculties, and more than 130 research institutes and centers. Its Blavatnik School of Computer Science and AI, named for Sir Leonard Blavatnik following his 2013 gift, is one of Israel's leading computer-science research bases.

Three Institutes Merged in 1956 to Form Israel's Largest University

Tel Aviv University's roots predate its 1956 founding. The Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics operated from the 1930s, initially as a branch of Hebrew University. The Institute of Natural Sciences and the Institute of Jewish Studies were founded in the mid-1950s by the Tel Aviv municipality. In 1956 the three merged under the Tel Aviv University name, first as a municipal institution, then from 1962 as an autonomous body supported by the municipality, the government, and donors in Israel and abroad. Dr. George S. Wise, previously chairman of the board of Hebrew University, became the university's first president in 1963.

From Sackler to Gray: A Renaming Forced by the Opioid Crisis

The university's medical school carried the Sackler name for decades, honoring donations from Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler. The family's pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma, developed OxyContin and was central to the U.S. opioid crisis. Following sustained public pressure, including from the Israel Medical Association, the university renamed the school the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.

The Blavatnik School of Computer Science and AI

The Blavatnik School of Computer Science and AI, named for Sir Leonard Blavatnik following his 2013 gift, is Tel Aviv University's academic anchor for computer-science research. Its faculty work spans natural-language processing, computer vision, cryptography, and machine learning, and its graduates populate the Tel Aviv-Herzliya startup ecosystem at scale.

The Coller School of Management and the Wider Faculty Structure

Alongside Blavatnik, the university runs the Coller School of Management, the Berglas School of Economics, the Porter School of Environmental Studies, the David Azrieli School of Architecture, and the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, among nine formal faculties and several additional independent schools.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was Tel Aviv University founded?
Tel Aviv University was formed in 1956 through the merger of the Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics, the Institute of Natural Sciences, and the Institute of Jewish Studies.

Why was the medical school renamed from Sackler to Gray?
The Sackler family's pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma, developed OxyContin and was central to the U.S. opioid crisis. Following public pressure, including from the Israel Medical Association, the university renamed the school the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.

What is the Blavatnik School of Computer Science and AI?
Tel Aviv University's academic anchor for computer-science research, named for Sir Leonard Blavatnik following his 2013 gift. Its faculty work spans NLP, computer vision, cryptography, and machine learning.

How large is Tel Aviv University?
Approximately 30,000 students, Israel's largest university by enrollment, across nine faculties and more than 130 research institutes and centers.

What is Ramot?
Ramot at Tel Aviv University is the university's technology-transfer arm, holding intellectual-property rights over TAU research and licensing it to commercial partners.

Sources

Tel Aviv University public disclosures and institutional history. Israel Council for Higher Education institutional data.

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