Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology is a public research university in Haifa, Israel, and the oldest university in the country. The idea of a technical institute in the Land of Israel was raised at the Fifth Zionist Congress in 1901, and the German-Jewish Ezra Association planned it as a school of engineering and sciences. Its cornerstone was laid in 1912 and studies began in 1924, with Arthur Blok as its first president. The choice of Hebrew rather than German as the language of instruction, settled in 1914 after the dispute known as the War of the Languages, helped consolidate Hebrew as Israel's official language. The university offers degrees in science, engineering, architecture, medicine, industrial management and education, with 19 academic departments, 60 research centers and 12 affiliated teaching hospitals, and it is credited as a major factor in the growth of Israel's high-tech industry, including the cluster known as Silicon Wadi. Its main campus, Technion City, lies on the slopes of Mount Carmel.