AFHU News Spring 2023

PAGE 10
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY
AFHU NEWS VOL. 30 PAGE 11
Susan Lawi: A Family History of
Supporting Disadvantaged Students
wanted to find the best university to support,
and he was told that HU was the best university
in Israel.”
Susan is deeply satisfied with the good things
that her family’s tradition of generous support
has brought forth. She said: “I am delighted to
meet the scholarship recipients and I am always
touched by the graduation ceremony for the
Ph.D. candidates, held during the annual Board
of Governors meeting in Jerusalem. The young
people are inspiring—especially the many young
women who are graduating with doctorates. It is
very gratifying.”
Region Board of Directors. On her board
experience, Susan said, “You get to meet other
board members, plan events, suggest worthy
honorees, review HU progress and AFHU financial
reports. It’s interesting and rewarding—a great
way to meet interesting, important people and a
great way to help HU and Israel.”
For her service to the university and to Israeli
higher education, HU awarded Susan with an
Honorary Fellowship. Unfortunately, she was
unable to visit Jerusalem to receive the honor
at the Mount Scopus campus. Undaunted
by the challenge, Hebrew University and the
American Friends of the Hebrew University
held a presentation event in September 2022 at
Susan’s home. “(Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Vice President for University Advancement and
External Relations) Amb. Yossi Gal came. My
children were there, and Prof. Magdassi attended
via Zoom, as did a student I help support. It was a
special moment. I felt I shared the award with my
father, and I hope to pass the torch of generosity
to my children.”
Susan is not planning to rest on her laurels,
however. She said, “You see, my father really
believed in the power of education to improve
people’s lives. In the future, I’d like to support
students from Ethiopia—there’s a real need
there. Supporting education for disadvantaged
people is just the way I was raised.”
Susan Lawi’s father left her with an important
legacy, one she hopes to pass down to her
children: support for those who are struggling
to better themselves through education. Susan
shared: “My father, Saleh Masri (z”l), was born
in Iraq, and he knew that many of his Jewish
contemporaries had been uprooted from their
homes in Arab countries. He also knew that
those who sought to build new lives in Israel often
faced discrimination. To fight this discrimination
and help them build better futures, my father
started a Hebrew University scholarship fund for
disadvantaged students of Iraqi descent in 1970.
I was proud of my father’s contribution to Israeli
education and, in 2005, decided to continue
his legacy of providing support to students of
Iraqi descent.” As for why Saleh Masri chose
to support HU, Susan commented, “My father
One particularly significant event occurred at a
Board of Governors meeting when Susan asked
to meet a professor of Iraqi descent. She was
introduced to Prof. Shlomo Magdassi. Prof.
Magdassi’s research group focuses on applied
research, with a focus on nanotechnology.
The group formulates inorganic and organic
nanomaterials for application in a variety of
fields including 3D printing, solar energy, and
bio-medical systems, with current projects
including transparent conductive electrodes,
coatings and inks for solar energy applications,
and nanoparticles for bio-imaging and drug
delivery. Speaking of Prof. Magdassi, Susan
added, “I was very impressed and began
supporting his lab—and was delighted to discover
that support from my father had helped Prof.
Magdassi to pursue his studies when he was a
student at HU!”
In addition to her generosity, Susan has served
the university through her membership on the
AFHU Board of Regents and the AFHU Northeast
Amb. Yossi Gal, Vice President for University Advancement
and External Relations together with Susan Lawi during
the presentation of her Honorary Fellowship.