Jerusalem, Nov.8, 2011 -- Four professors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will receive on Nov. 20 the EMET Prize for 2011 from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The EMET Prize is an annual prize given for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far reaching influence and make significant contributions to society.
The prize, with a total value of $1 million that is divided among the winners. is sponsored by the A.M.N. Foundation for the Advancement of Science, Art and Culture in Israel, under the auspices of and in cooperation with the prime minister of Israel.
The four Hebrew University winners of the prize this year are Prof. Saharon Shelah of the Einstein Institute of Mathematics, Prof. Gershon Ben-Shakhar of the Department of Psychology, and Prof. Berachyahu Lifshitz and Prof. Eliav Shochetman of the Faculty of Law.
Prof. Shelah's prize is in the area of the exact sciences. Holder of the Prof. Abraham Robinson Chair in Mathematical Logic, he is considered a leading expert in mathematical logic and its use in various applications to classical mathematics. His wide-ranging and penetrating work over a period of some 40 years has contributed greatly to a rethinking of model theory.
Prof. Ben-Shakhar will receive the prize in social sciences. His work, among other -things, has dealt with applied research on the validity, utility as well as social and legal aspects of various detection methods. His results proved crucial in influencing the Supreme Court to decide that polygraph results are not considered decisive in criminal cases.
Prof. Lifshitz and Prof. Shochetman are receiving the prize in the humanities for their far-reaching work in researching Jewish law. Prof. Lifshitz, who holds the Henry J. and Fanny Harkavy Chair in Comparative Law, has done extensive research in Jewish law, harking back all the way to the time of the ancient sages. Prof. Shochetman is the author of numerous books and research articles in the area of law generally and Jewish law in particular, in which his depth of analysis has stood out