Ron Robin

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Professor Ron Theodore Robin (born in 1951) is a distinguished scholar whose research focuses on the interface between culture and foreign policy in the United States. He is a senior faculty member at the University of Haifa, as well as a Professor Emirtus at New York University (NYU)^[1]. Currently Robin serves as the 11th president of the University of Haifa ^[2].

Robin was born in 1951 in Tel Aviv to Shani (Rozin) a Jerusalem-born scion of the Shaltiel Family and to Eli, a South African citizen who served as a volunteer in the War of Independence. Robin grew up in South Africa and returned with his family to Israel when he was 13 years old. Robin joined the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) in 1969. He served in the intelligence community and was discharged with the rank of Major.

In 1978, he was awarded a BA in Romance Languages and General History from the Hebrew University Jerusalem. In 1986 he was granted a PhD in modern US History from the University of California, Berkeley. His thesis was entitled: "Signs of Change: urban iconographies in San Francisco, 1880-1915". In 1986, Robin returned to Israel and was admitted as a faculty member at the University of Haifa. Robin served as professor in the Department of Communications and the Department of General History and in 2000 was appointed Dean of Students, a position he held for five years.

In 2006, Robin moved to NYU, USA, where he was appointed a professor in the Department of Media, Culture and Communications and in 2007 was appointed Associate Dean at the NYU Steinhardt School.

In 2008, Robin was appointed Senior Vice Provost, New York University, and was responsible for the establishment of the two NYU international campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai. Robin's main role was to recruit faculty members for the new campuses.

In 2016, Robin was elected as the 11th president of the University of Haifa and in October 2016, he assumed this role. Upon taking office, Robin conceived the program of transforming the University of Haifa into the first Multiversity in Israel- a university with multiple campuses and research Portals. In accordance with the program, the central campus on Mount Carmel, will be complimented by other portals, specializing in strategic research and multidisciplinary cooperation. In order to implement the program, Robin has initiated the integration of Braude Engineering College in Carmiel. The ultimate goal is to transform Braude into the university's Faculty of Engineering. He has initiated a similar process with the WIZO Academic Center in Haifa, the objective being to create a new Faculty of Architecture and Design. In addition, an agreement was signed with the Rambam Health Care Campus for the joint establishment of "the Helmsley Medical Discovery Tower", a 20-story building with a cost of 400 million Israeli shekels (ILS), to be built at the Rambam campus. The center will integrate the research and medical activities of Rambam physicians and University faculty members in the fields of natural sciences, welfare and health, psychology and more.

During 2017, Robin accompanied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his mission to China, where he signed an agreement, on behalf of the University, with the CASIA institution of Automation, for the establishment of a research center in the field of artificial intelligence.

In contrast to the mainstream of modern American historians, who separate cultural history from diplomatic history, Robin's work combines the two currents, claiming that it is impossible to understand the foreign relations of the United States without understanding domestic cultural shifts. In his research, Robin describes US foreign policy in the 21stcentury as being "captive of the past", prisoners of an illusory perception, that the United States is under the same threats that cofounded the twentieth century. He describes the second Gulf War in 2003 as stemming from the perception of senior US officials that "another Pearl Harbor has to be avoided" - even though the case of Iraq and Pearl Harbor are not at all similar.

In his latest book, "The Cold World They Made", published by Harvard University Press, Robin claims that US foreign policy in the 21st century is a reproduction of the foreign policy of the 1950s and 1960s, when the nation labored, under the threat of the Soviet atomic bomb. This policy, he argues, continued without distinction between presidents, parties or political leanings and is still valid today.

Robin is married to Levia (Livi) Wolf and the couple has four children.