Page 18 - HAC President Report 2022

New Faculty Appointments:

Dr. Shani Oppenheim Weller will be
succeeding Prof. Chaim Waxman as the new
Chair of the Department of Behavioral Science.
Shani earned a B.A. (Cum Laude) in Psychology
and Education from The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem, and an M.A. (Cum Laude), and
Ph.D. in Clinical-Educational Psychology from
the University of Haifa. Shani has been a
Lecturer in HAC’s Department of Behavioral
Science since 2017 and, in 2019, was appointed
Senior Lecturer. Previously, she worked as a
clinical psychologist in the Jerusalem Mental
Health Center, lectured at Ono Academic
College, and was a research fellow at the
Haruv Institute, among other positions.

Liran Elbaz-Bloch, will be succeeding Gideon
Dotan as Chair of the DAN Department of
Creative Human Design. With a degree in
Industrial Design from Shenkar College of
Engineering, Design, and Art, Liran has been
a member of the Department since 2015 and,
in 2020, was promoted to the position of
Senior Lecturer. Liran is co-owner of ALBA
Design, a product design, marketing, and
communications studio. Her designs have won
six awards including the Red Dot Award for
Product Design (2012), NAMM Best Tools
Award (2010 and 2011) and, more recently,
the Fatherly Favorite Best Toys Award at the
New York Toy Fair (2019), and have appeared
in numerous exhibitions in Israel and Italy.

Prof. Haya Itzhaky will be succeeding Prof. Ilana Duvdevany,
the founding head of HAC’s Department of Social Work,
starting with the 2022-2023 academic year. Prof. Itzhaky
completed her Ph.D. in Sociology and Anthropology at Bar
Ilan University (1985), with which she has been affiliated for
her entire professional life. An expert in community social
work, Prof. Itzhaky has been deeply involved for many years
with the Israel Association of Community Centers, and has
advised many local community centers and municipalities.
Haya has served as an indispensable advisor to a long list of
Israeli government ministries and nonprofit agencies. She has
served as a visiting professor of social work and social policy
at various academic institutions in the US, Canada, Australia,
and New Zealand. We welcome Haya to the College and
wish her well in leading this quickly growing academic
department, which is entering it’s fourth year of operation.

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