The Israel Political Science Association and the Political Research Association are deeply sorrowed to inform of the death of our chairman, Professor Gideon Doron, of Tel Aviv University, a researcher of international renown, productive academic innovator who established departments in universities and colleges as well as applied research centers, was greatly esteemed by those he taught and known as “a students’ professor”,” and mentor for many dozens of research students, while remaining involved in an array of public activities.
Professor Doron was born in Tel Aviv in 1945. He earned his BA and MA from Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and his PhD from Rochester University, New York, supervised by William Riker, renowned for his Theory of Political Coalitions, and for applying Game Theory in political research. Riker influenced Doron’s research and media analyses. Doron authored 20 books in Hebrew and English, and a great many academic articles on political strategy and economics, election methods, public policy and administration, political communication and manipulation, and game theory. He initiated the establishment of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Public Policy and served as the academic consultant and chairman of the Department for Public Administration and Policy in Ben Gurion University during its stages of setup. He headed the Yezreel Valley College’s Department of Political Science, was a founder of the Civilian’s Empowerment Center, and the central academic figure behind its activities. He was academically responsible for, and developed, the National Resilience Index, which encompassed the Corruption Index, published annually at the Sderot Social Conference, and was additionally active in the international team that measured public corruption levels worldwide.
Professor Doron filled an array of public roles, among them chair of Israel’s Channel Two Television & Radio Station; member of the steering team for the committee, established by former President of Israel Moshe Katzav, on methods of governance in Israel; consultant to prime ministers and ministers; a member of the committee for examining public service appointments; and a member of the national security team, the Israel Film Council, and the commission for determining municipal limitations. In elections for the 18th Knesset, he headed “The “Israelis” party, which did not pass the threshold but did bring into the public agenda the outcomes of a study he led as part of the President’s Commission, together with studies conducted in the framework of the Civilian’s Empowerment Center, on issues relating to the need for change in methods of governance.
To a very great degree, the Israel Political Science Association and the Political Research Association owe their existence to Gideon Doron who, from their inception and his holding the role of chairman, initiated most of its activities. Among them are the establishment of the association’s publishing house. He headed its scientific system, and during the 1990s, served as a board member of the International Political Science Association.
Last year the Executive Committee of the Israel Political Science Association awarded Professor Gideon Doron its annual Life Achievement prize in the field of political science in Israel.
May his memory be cherished by his colleagues and students.