Autumn 2003

Harry Sessler Named Honorary Fellow
 

Harry Sessler’s new title is Honorary Fellow of the University, “the dearest title of them all,” he informed the audience.  Not bad for a fellow who immigrated to Israel from Bulgaria at the age of 17 with no job and who had to support his parents.  Sessler, who rose to become managing director of the Dagon Silos after the death of company’s founder, Dr. Reuben Hecht.  Sessler is now chairman of the Hecht Foundation.  His experience in life, he commented, has taught him how important it is to give.

            Sessler’s volunteering activity drew two personalities to Haifa to sing his praises.  One was Member of Knesset Uzi Landau, who serves Minister without Portfolio in the Prime Minister’s Office.  They had sat together on the boards of various organizations, and the Landau family had also been close to Reuben Hecht.  The other was Ms. Pnina Bor, international vice-president of B’nai B’rith.  Sessler had been deputy president of B’nai B’rith Israel and is vice-president of B’nai B’rith International.  In regard to the University, the new Fellow remarked that he has “contributed mentally and physically” to the institution.  University President Yehuda Hayuth had earlier noted Sessler’s close attention to detail in checking out the stages of construction, even the appropriateness of the paneling, of the Hecht Auditorium, where the ceremony was now being conducted.