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| − | Adam Grunewald | + | [[Oudi Recanati]] is the son of [[Raphael Recanati]] and Chairman of the [[Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya]]. Together with [[Uriel Reichman]] Recanati founded the [[Raphael Recanati International School]] in 1999<ref>Adam Grunewald, [http://portal.idc.ac.il/He/Main/about_idc/news_events/DocLib2/59_recanati.pdf End of the year interview with Oudi Recanati], ''Interdisciplinary Centre Herzliya'', Accessed 25-August-2009</ref>. |
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| | + | ==Affiliations== |
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| | + | [[Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya]] | [[Raphael Recanati International School]] |
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| − | Israel and the Jewish Diaspora that his
| + | ==Notes== |
| − | sons, Oudi and Michael Recanati
| + | <references/> |
| − | together with their mother Dina,
| + | |
| − | attached his name to the school.
| + | [[Category:Israel|Recanti Oudi]][[Category:Israeli Think Tanker|Recanati, Oudi]] |
| − | When describing the
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| − | development of the IDC, Oudi recalls
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| − | the first time that Professor
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| − | Reichmann, the school’s current
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| − | President and founder, invited him to
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| − | visit the campus. Before it became a
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| − | school, the campus was used a
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| − | military base, not only by the Israeli
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| − | army but also in the pre-state era by
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| − | British forces. Oudi laughs as he
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| − | describes Professor Reichmann
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| − | leading them around the old
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| − | dilapidated base and, while pointing to
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| − | buildings that were in shambles,
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| − | explaining that “this one would be the
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| − | library” and “this one the law building”.
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| − | Indeed, Professor Reichmann had a
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| − | true vision, and this was a trait that
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| − | attracted Oudi, and many others to
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| − | work with him in the creation of one of
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| − | Israel’s first private colleges.
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| − | Oudi Recanati together with Prof. Reichman
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| − | In 1999, through the combined
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| − | vision of Professor Reichmann and
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| − | Oudi the IDC began working to
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| − | develop an international school, taught
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| − | in English with students and staff from
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| − | all around the world. When it began
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| − | the RRIS had 36 international
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| − | students, however it was later that
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| − | year that the second Intifada broke
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| − | out. Oudi vividly recalls one night
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| − | when he was sitting outside the Ofer
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| − | auditorium and Professor Reichmann
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| − | came to inform him that almost 20 of
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| − | the international students had left.
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| − | Oudi confesses that he was
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| − | devastated, and had begun to
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| − | consider the possibility that the project
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| − | had been a mistake. However,
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| − | Professor Reichmann was not
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| − | discouraged and assured Oudi that if
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| − | he continued to have faith, the school
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| − | would be a success. Sure enough,
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| − | less than a decade later, the RRIS has
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| − | grown to far surpass anyone’s initial
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| − | expectations and continues to grow in
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| − | size, academic caliber, and prestige.
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| − | Recanati at the Honorary Fellowships Ceremony
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| − | at IDC
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| − | Oudi then turned the | |
| − | conversation towards the difficulties
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| − | that the IDC faced from the Israeli
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| − | government. Since its creation, the
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| − | school had only made one request
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| − | from the notoriously difficult academic
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| − | bureaucracy, to not give them any
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| − | money. In this way the school freed
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| − | itself from the weight of “bureaucratic
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| − | Bolsheviks”, and earned the freedom
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| − | to grow and succeed. Although the
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| − | government continues to make
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| − | problems in terms of accreditation and
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| − | building permits, the IDC has found
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| − | clever ways of overcoming these
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| − | obstacles, truly earning their title of
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| − | “bureaucracy busters”.
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| − | Recanati with the class of 2009
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| − | When speaking about the
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| − | current status of the school, Oudi
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| − | emphasized the recent national
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| − | academic report on which IDC scored
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| − | first in 16 out of 20 categories. This in
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| − | and of itself is an unbelievable
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| − | achievement, however, on the next
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| − | survey Oudi explained that Professor
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| − | Reichmann’s vision and motivation
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| − | would most likely propel the IDC to win
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| − | 22 out of the 20 categories! These
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| − | successes are a product of the IDC’s
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| − | overall experience. Oudi brought up
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| − | his time at Hebrew University and Tel
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| − | Aviv University, and confessed that he
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| − | really does not remember very much
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| − | at all from his days in school. It was
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| − | what he described as an industrialized
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| − | University experience, go to class get
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| − | passing grades and move on. The
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| − | goal of the IDC and the RRIS was to
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| − | go further, and to create a sense of
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| − | community while instilling values and
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| − | life skills in its students. With the
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| − | results of the academic survey and the
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| − | enormous successes of its students,
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| − | the IDC has clearly exceeded this
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| − | initial goal.
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| − | Recanati with RRIS student and Jonathan Davis, | |
| − | head of the RRIS and VP for External Relations
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| − | Finally, the discussion turned
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| − | towards the future prospects of the
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| − | school. Oudi explained that the RRIS
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| − | has a strong foundation because the
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| − | initial donation for the creation of the
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| − | school was committed over a period of
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| − | 20 years. Now, only in its eighth year,
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| − | the RRIS has tremendous financial
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| − | security to continue its rapid growth,
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| − | and provide new and exciting facilities
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| − | for its students. However, Oudi was
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| − | quick to point out that this growth
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| − | would have to remain controlled
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| − | because an enormous student body
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| − | would contradict the basic ideology of
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| − | the program. Although he did not give
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| − | any specifics, Oudi also talked about
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| − | the addition of new study tracks. “The
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| − | school is constantly listening to the
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| − | feedback of its students,” he
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| − | explained. “If there is enough demand
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| − | for a specific program, its likely to pop
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| − | up.” Oudi hinted at the potential for a
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| − | school of economics, and also
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| − | commented on the growing
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| − | importance of clean energy and green
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| − | development.
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| − | Our meeting ended far beyond the
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| − | scheduled time, as Oudi continuously
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| − | found additional aspects of the school
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| − | that he was excited to discuss. With
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| − | the vision of Professor Reichmann and
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| − | the strong backing of the Recanati
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| − | family and a long list of other, donors,
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| − | supporters, and board members, it is
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| − | clear that the IDC will continue its
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| − | trend of academic and ideological
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| − | success.
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