Ariel Porat

Ariel Porat was born in 1956 in Tel Aviv

Ariel Porat was born in Tel Aviv on November 1, 1956. His father, Haim Porat, was vice president of the Tel Aviv District Court. His mother, Adina Porat, was a judge at the National Labor Court.

He served 5 years in the Intelligence Corps and is a major in the reserves. He earned a law degree with distinction at Tel Aviv University from 1979 to 1983. He then completed a doctorate in 1989 and was a visiting scholar at Yale University in 1989 and 1990.

In 1990 he joined the law faculty at Tel Aviv University, where he works on torts, contracts and the economic analysis of law. He was dean of the faculty from 2002 to 2006. From 2003 he was a regular visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School.

He founded and edited the journal Theoretical Inquiries in Law from 2000 to 2003. In 2013 he headed the university's strategic steering committee. In 2014 he was elected to the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and received the EMET Prize.

In May 2019 he was elected president of Tel Aviv University, succeeding Joseph Klafter. He was re-elected in May 2024. During his term he spoke out against the judicial reform.