Ben Gurion Dedicates Ullmann Institute of Life Sciences in Israel

Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion today called upon the world’s biologists to “transform the sciences of life into the science of peace and cooperation.” Speaking at the inauguration of the Ullmann Institute of Life Sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science, he stressed that peoples of the world are as much interdependent as the billions of cells that make up the human body.

The study of these cells, and of the entire and rapidly developing field of molecular biology will be the main task of 150 scientists and technicians who will work in the four-story Ullmann Institute.

The institute was named for Fanny and Jacob Ullmann, whose son, Siegfried, a New York philanthropist, contributed $1,500,000, representing half the cost of the building. The Max Planck Institute of West Germany donated the equivalent of $750,000 for equipment.

In opening the ceremonies, Meyer W. Weisgal, chairman of the Weizmann Institute Executive Council, described the Ullmann Institute as the “continuity of the past and the beginning of a new epoch in the history of the Weizmann Institute. “The scientists of the Ullmann Institute are part of a global complex, part of an international team,” Mr. Weisgal told an audience of 1,000, including leading scientists from eight countries. “We hope that these scientists will justify the magnificent generosity of Irma and Siegfried Ullmann, and will bear fitting tribute to their parents for whom it has been named. I feel confident that this will be the case.”

Participating in the opening ceremony were United States Ambassador Walworth Barbour who presented greetings on behalf for the American people; Professor Amos De-Shalit, Weizmann Institute scientific director; and Professor Ephraim Katchalski who described research in life sciences at the Weizmann Institute. Professor Leo Sachs presented a plaque to Mr. and Mrs. Ullmann in recognition of “their generosity and devotion to the advancement of research in molecular biology.”