Grant Supports SOM-Israeli Study of Homeland Security, Counterterrorism

A gift from a Yale alumnus will support research by Yale and Israeli scholars on homeland security and counterterrorism.

The gift from Daniel Rose, chair of Rose Associates Inc., and a 1951 graduate of Yale College, will fund a three-year partnership between the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel and the Yale School of Management (SOM).

Top researchers from the Technion and SOM will explore strategic, tactical and operational problems in the areas of homeland security and counterterrorism with the intent of developing new tools for decision-making and policy analysis.

They will look at such issues as resource allocation of counterterrorism assets, decision-making under uncertainty, the tradeoff between human intelligence and technology, and exploring sophisticated data analysis techniques to identify the whereabouts of terrorists.

The principal investigator at Yale will be Edward H. Kaplan, the William N. and Marie A. Beach Professor of Management Sciences, professor of public health and professor of engineering. The Technion investigators are Boaz Golany, dean and the Samuel Gorney Professor of Engineering in the William Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management; Abraham Marmur, the Albert and Anne Mansfield Professor of Water Science and Technology, and director of the Technion’s Center for Security Science and Technology; and Uriel Rothblum, the Alexander Goldberg Professor of Management Science.

The partnership builds on existing collaboration among the investigators while promoting further synergy between these leading Israeli and American institutions.

“This partnership to study the mechanics of terrorism brings together Israel, a country that is preeminent in the areas of security and anti-terror, and the U.S., which is needy in these areas,” said Rose. “It is also a way, I think, to let people know the U.S. and its top universities like Yale are happy to collaborate with the Technion and other world-class universities in Israel.”

In addition to providing research funding for the principal investigators, the Rose gift will help support the exchange of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers between the two institutions, sponsor sessions at international research conferences, develop a seminar in homeland security and counterterrorism operations at Yale, and provide seed funding for faculty aimed at encouraging research in this important area.

“This investment by Daniel Rose is a clear endorsement of the world-class research being conducted at the Technion - and of the importance of that research to the global community,” said Technion President and Professor Yitzhak Apeloig. “The unique combination of our strong anti-terror research and the problem-solving and management-based approach for which the Yale School of Management is known holds great promise for a safer - and more integrated - world.”

Yale President Richard C. Levin said, “We are pleased to be a research partner with Technion on a subject of such profound importance to our global society.”

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is Israel’s leading science and technology university, which has achieved international recognition for its pioneering work in nanotechnology, computer science, biotechnology, water-resource management, materials engineering, aerospace and medicine.

The mission of the Yale SOM is to educate leaders for business and society. The school offers a two-year full-time MBA degree, an MBA for Executives program tailored for health care professionals, a Ph.D. program and executive education programs.