Scienceאברהם קציר

Abraham Katzir

Abraham Katzir is an Israeli physicist and professor at Tel Aviv University, known for his work on infrared optical fibers made of silver halides.

born 1941Silver halide infrared optical fibersTel Aviv University Applied Physics Group"In the Crucible of Revolution" lectures

Occupation: physicist
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Abraham Katzir was born in 1941

Abraham Katzir was born in 1941 in Jerusalem to Rina and Aharon Katzir. His father, a scientist, was killed in 1972 at Lod Airport by Japanese terrorists. His uncle, Ephraim Katzir, served as President of Israel.

He did all his academic studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and earned his PhD in 1974. His thesis dealt with the optical and electrical properties of boron nitride. From 1974 to 1977 he was a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech.

In 1977 he joined Tel Aviv University and founded the Applied Physics Group, which he heads. The group developed silver halide fibers that are transparent in the infrared, with medical, industrial and environmental uses. He was also a visitor at Bell Laboratories, MIT and Boston University.

He supervised about 100 graduate students, and the group's work appeared in about 400 papers. He chairs the Israel Lasers and Electro Optics Society. Each year he organizes the lecture series "In the Crucible of Revolution" in memory of his father. He is married to historian and filmmaker Yael Katzir.