Academic Leadership
Dr. Pinhas Haliwa
AAC’s Founder and CEO
Prof. Shimon Sharvit
AAC’s Rector
Prof. Haim Breitbart
AAC’s President
Dr. Haliwa, an attorney with a doctorate in political science, has been serving as CEO of the college since 1987. Dr. Haliwa was initially appointed the director of the college when it was the Ashkelon branch of Bar-Ilan University and, with only fifty students, in imminent danger of closure. Recognizing the potential of the college, Dr. Haliwa supplemented its offerings with a broad variety of pre-academic opportunities as well as an engineering studies program with the support received from Project Renewal, a joint enterprise of the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency to assist distressed neighborhoods.
Prof. Sharvit previously headed Bar-Ilan University’s Department of Hebrew and Semitic Languages as well as its Institute of Lexicography, and he serves as a member of the Academy of Hebrew Language. His main area of research is the language and style employed across the spectrum of Tannaitic literature. When the college was first established, Professor Sharvit was appointed by the senate of Bar-Ilan University to supervise its satellite institution in Ashkelon. He recruited quality lecturers, created small classes to facilitate a personal touch and intensive study, and organized special funds for remedial classes for students with disabilities.
Prof. Haim Breitbart has held a number of senior positions in the academic field in general and in colleges in particular. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Life and Natural Sciences at Bar-Ilan University, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Bar-Ilan University in Safed, President of the Safed Academic College, and head of the academic colleges at Bar-Ilan University. He is also a Senior Researcher in the field of male fertility and has numerous research connections around the world.
