University of Haifa appoints Arab rector, in first for an Israeli school
Gavriel Fiske is a reporter at The Times of Israel

The University of Haifa announces that its academic senate has elected Prof. Mouna Maroun, a neuroscientist and expert in post-trauma stress disorder, to be the university’s new rector. Maroun, a Maronite Christian from the Mount Carmel village of Isfiya, is the first Arab to be appointed rector of an Israeli university.
Maroun, 54, has been a faculty member of the university for over 20 years and completed her PhD in psychobiology there. Her research focuses on how the brain regulates emotions and on the effects of environmental and childhood stress on the brain.
She has served the University of Haifa as chairwoman of the Sagol Department of Neurobiology and as a member of the academic senate, among other positions.
“I’m grateful that the University of Haifa entrusted me with this position… I’m committed to continuing to invest all my academic resources to promote the University’s excellent research and do everything in my power to ensure the University continues to be a beacon of excellence in the heart of Israel’s North. Together, we promote a common vision of a shared society where members of all religions and denominations can co-exist in peace,” Maroun says in a statement announcing her appointment.
Maroun is set to assume the role at the start of the next academic year, in October, succeeding Prof. Gur Alroey, who is to become the university’s new president.