Business and technologyצבי חשין

Zvi Hashin

Zvi Hashin was an Israeli mechanical engineer and professor at Tel Aviv University, known for his research on composite materials.

1929 to 2017Mechanics of composite materialsHashin-Shtrikman elasticity researchFounding Tel Aviv University's mechanics department

Born: 24 June 1929, Free City of Danzig
Died: 29 October 2017
Occupation: engineer, university teacher
Education: Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Zvi Hashin was born in 1929 in Free City of Danzig

Zvi Hashin was born in Danzig in 1929. In 1936, as Nazism grew stronger, his family moved to the Land of Israel and settled in Haifa.

As a youth he joined the Haganah, and in 1947, after finishing Hugim high school, he joined the Jewish Settlement Police. When the IDF was founded he served in the 7th Brigade and fought in the War of Independence.

He studied engineering at the Technion and completed a master's degree in civil engineering and mechanics in 1955 under Markus Reiner. He earned a doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1957, then lectured at the Technion.

In 1959 he moved to Harvard University as a researcher, and from 1960 to 1971 he was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His joint work with Shmuel Shtrikman on the elasticity of composite materials appeared in 1963. In 1973 he founded the Department of Mechanics, Materials and Structures at Tel Aviv University, which he headed twice.

He retired in 1997. He received the Israel Prize in 2007 and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in 2012. He died on October 29, 2017 and was buried in Herzliya.

Milestones in Zvi Hashin's life

1936
Immigrated with his family to the Land of Israel.
1957
Earned a doctorate from the Sorbonne.
1963
Published joint research with Shmuel Shtrikman on composite materials.
1972
Received the Landau Prize.
1973
Founded a mechanics department at Tel Aviv University.
1994
Received an honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
2007
Received the Israel Prize in engineering.
2012
Received the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Mechanical Engineering.
2017
Died in October.

Zvi Hashin served in the military

He joined the Haganah as a youth and the Jewish Settlement Police in 1947. In the IDF he served in the 7th Brigade and fought in the War of Independence.