After some coaxing from a couple of classmates I am, somewhat reluctantly, sitting down to write some thoughts for the 50th Reunion Book. There are several reasons for my reluctance. Living so very far away in Israel, my memories of my Amherst years have steadily weakened over the years. What is more, having spent the last 38 years at a new university which grew from a couple of thousand students to a fairly large university of about 15,000 students, my interests are focused on that institution rather than on Amherst.
One nice classmate wrote me "You probably have one of the most interesting life stories to tell ... ", intimating, I would guess, that living in Israel, I probably suffered or witnessed the horrors of war or terrorist acts. Happily, in general, this was not the case; our life here is quite mundane and resembles life in the States to a great extent. Two examples of the rare exceptions: 1) I was called up for military reserves in 1970 as a psychologist to study the morale of soldiers in fortifications along the Suez Canal. The Egyptians would sporadically fire mortar rounds at the fortifications, and the one with the lowest morale was yours truly. 2) One of our sons-in-law bought some humus and other Middle Eastern foods to take home from a nearby Arab restaurant that several hours later was blown up by a suicide bomber killing some 15 people.
After leaving Amherst in 1957 I returned to Israel where I was inducted into the Israeli Army, and sent to work in the Psychological Research Branch. There I met Gabi (full name Gabriella) Kroener and we were married in 1959. In 1960 we moved to Jerusalem where we both studied at the Hebrew University. Our two daughters, Michal (1963) and Tami (1966), were both born in Jerusalem. In 1969 we moved to Haifa where I took up a position in the Department of Psychology of the new University of Haifa. I have been here since then except for three sabbaticals in the States (Penn State, U. of Colorado, and Berkeley). Last year I retired and do not do any more teaching, but as I have several research grants and contracts, I continue on in research (which I enjoy!). My field of specialization is visual perception, and I carry out both basic research, while also specializing in applied aspects of the field (Human Factors/Ergonomics).
Both our daughters are married and the families live here in Haifa, not far from where we live. Both have two daughters, and Gabi and I immensely enjoy our quite intensive interaction with our granddaughters.