EMET Prize Laureate Dist. Prof. Jacob Ziv

Distinguished Prof. Jacob Ziv of the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical Engineering has been chosen as laureate for the 2017 EMET Prize in the category of ‘Exact Sciences: Computer & Electronic Engineering.’

Distinguished Prof. Jacob Ziv of the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical Engineering

The prize is awarded annually under the auspices of the Prime Minister of Israel, and consists of five categories of academic or professional achievements that have significantly benefited society. Prof. Ziv is being recognized for his game-changing contribution to the fields of information and communications.

Over the years, Prof. Ziv has won prestigious awards including the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award, Israel Prize in the Exact Sciences, Israel Defense Prize (twice), Marconi International Award, IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal, and Claude E. Shannon Award. He has held positions including President of the Israel Academy of Sciences, Chair of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Israeli Council for Higher Education, and has been a member of leading American and European societies.

The Lempel-Ziv algorithm, which Prof. Ziv developed together with Prof. Abraham Lempel of Technion’s Faculty of Computer Science, is an algorithm for compressing information that enables lossless compression regardless of the structure of the data and without prior knowledge of its statistical properties. Many of the compression technologies currently used in memory devices, computers, and smartphones were developed based on this algorithm.

The award ceremony is scheduled to take place on November 9, 2017.