Lavin’s $30 Million Gift Aims to Double Hebrew University’s Medical Student Capacity

Steven H. Lavin, chairman of the OSI Group, announced a $30 million donation to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to fund a new Center for Advanced Medical Education. The center is part of a $90 million, ten-year initiative that seeks to double the number of medical students the Faculty of Medicine can train. Roughly half of the budget will come from university funds and the other half from Lavin’s contribution and other donors, primarily from Chicago.

Visiting Israel, Steven H. Lavin donates $30M to Hebrew University to boost physician training

Israel faces a shortage of physicians. The Ministry of Health’s Yatziv Reform of 2019 tightened recognition of foreign medical degrees, reducing the annual intake of new doctors. An aging cohort of physicians who immigrated from the former Soviet Union is slated to retire, while about 1,300 doctors have left the country in the past three years. These trends have created a bottleneck in clinical training.

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• Donation: $30 million (Lavin)

Visiting Israel, Steven H. Lavin donates $30M to Hebrew University to boost physician training

• Total project budget: $90 million over ten years (Dean Eli Pikarsky)

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• Target: double current enrollment of medical students (Pikarsky)

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• Funding split: ~50 % university budget, ~50 % donations (Pikarsky)

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• Doctor attrition: 1,300 physicians departed in three years (Pikarsky)

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Lavin said the center will use a monitoring system that tracks individual student progress, allowing mentors to focus support where needed. University President Tamir Sheafer called the gift “truly transformative,” noting the model could set a new global standard for medical education.

Visiting Israel, Steven H. Lavin donates $30M to Hebrew University to boost physician training

• “Throughout the world, there is a shortage of medical personnel, especially doctors. We need to train more doctors and train them better. Sometimes a person goes to a great doctor and says, 'I'd like to be treated by this doctor all my life, because he explains with empathy, clarity and also listens to me.' Our goal is for all our doctors to be like that.” — Faculty dean

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• “By combining advanced technology with rigorous assessment, expert mentorship, and human-centered care, this center will allow us to educate more physicians to a higher and more consistent standard, and to share what we learn with medical schools around the world.” — Steve Lavin

Visiting Israel, Steven H. Lavin donates $30M to Hebrew University to boost physician training

• October 18 2026 – Donation and project details announced.

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• Early 2027 – Pediatrics department will pilot the student-monitoring system.

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• Ongoing – Partnerships with Chicago medical institutions, including Rush Medical Center, will be formalized.

Visiting Israel, Steven H. Lavin donates $30M to Hebrew University to boost physician training

The pilot will begin with the pediatrics studies departments, testing a digital platform that measures each student’s knowledge against personal benchmarks. The system will provide real-time data to mentors, enabling targeted remediation and fostering teamwork over competition.

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Lavin also indicated plans to invest an additional $18 million in food-tech and sustainability projects at the university, and a $16 million collaborative initiative across several Israeli universities to bring North American students to study in Israel. These complementary efforts aim to strengthen the ecosystem that supports medical education and retain talent within the country.

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