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Milestone Year
1969
The first Computer Science program in Israel
The first academic program in computer science in Israel was started at Weizmann Institute in the Fall of 1969. The program was initiated as a master program, and later extended to offer also PhD degrees.
The program addressed a vast demand for advanced training in computer science in Israel. Out of the large number of applicants, only 32 were admitted as full-time students in 1969. An introductory course offered in the summer of 1969 was attended by over 200 students.
In the decades before, the Applied Mathematics Department at Weizmann Institute has established an expertise in building digital computers (see WEIZAC) and in using them to solve a variety of applied science problems. The program started in 1969 was aimed at expanding the expertise to areas such as design of algorithms and software engineering.