Judith Gal-Ezer, Professor

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The Open university of Israel Department of Mathematics and Computer Science 1 University Road, P. O. Box 808, Raanana 4353701
Office:Tel: 972-9-7782244 Email:galezer@cs.openu.ac.il

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Judith Gal-Ezer, Professor

Judith Gal-Ezer is Professor of Computer Science at the Open University of Israel (OUI), within the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.

As faculty, she has developed numerous textbooks in Mathematics and Computer Science (CS) and played a pivotal role in designing both the undergraduate and Master programs in CS. During her time at OUI, she held various leadership positions, including Head of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department, Head of the Development Division, and Vice President for Academic Affairs, spanning almost a decade.

While initially she engaged in research on wave propagation and seismology, her focus gradually shifted to two key areas: computer-integrated mathematics education and computer science education, which has since become her primary interests.

In addition of writing Hebrew textbooks for the Open University Professor Gal-Ezer published tens of publications in professional journals and professional conferences. She supervised many students' seminar works, and Master and PhD students.

Her involvement with educational policy extends beyond academia. She was member of the Ministry of Education's professional committee responsible for formulating the CS curriculum for Israeli high schools. Subsequently, she chaired this committee and served on similar committees for elementary, middle school curricula.

Furthermore, Judith has contributed extensively to higher education governance, serving as a member of the CHE Council for Higher Education, the regulatory body overseeing all higher education institutions. Presently, she continues to participate in numerous sub-committees of the Ministry of Education, the CHE, and the PBC (Planning and Budgeting Committee).

Professor Gal-Ezer is actively engaged in professional societies and initiatives. She serves on the editorial boards of several prominent journals; she is a member of the Informatics for All European Coalition, and plays key roles in various committees, including the CC2020 Steering Committee and the ACM Education Board. Notably, she chairs the ACM Europe Council Education Committee.

Her contributions to CS education have been recognized through

prestigious awards, including:

ACM SIGCSE 2007 "Special Contribution to Computer Science Education,"

IEEE 2015 Computer Society Taylor L. Booth Education Award for outstanding research and practical application in the field

ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award 2017.

In 2021 she was honored to be recognized as an ACM Fellow.

In 2022 she was invited as Fellow of AAIA (Asia -Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association)

In 2024 as AIIA Fellow (International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance)

In 2024 Gal-Ezer was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to the ACM Award

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Education

1968	Tel Aviv University, Applied Mathematics - B.Sc.
1971	Tel Aviv University, Applied Mathematics - M.Sc.
1978	Tel Aviv University, Applied Mathematics - Ph.D.
1985	Tel Aviv University, Computer Science - Diploma Studies

Academic Ranks in Institutions of Higher Education

1980 - 1985 - Tel Aviv University - Lecturer (adjunct)

1986 - 1987 - Tel Aviv University - Visiting Lecturer

1990 - 1995 - The Open University of Israel - Senior Lecturer

1993 - 1994 - The Weizmann Institute of Science - Visiting Scientist

1994 - 1995 - Tel Aviv University - Senior Lecturer (adjunct)

1995 - 1996 - Weizmann Institute of Science - Consultant

1995 - 2002 - The Open University of Israel - Associate Professor

2002 - 2016 - The Open University of Israel - Full Professor

Summer 2002 - Weizmann Institute of Science - Visiting Scientist

2019 - 2024 - The Open University of Israel - Full Professor

2024 - The Open University of Israel – Professor Emerita

Offices in Academic Administration

1985 - 1990 - Head, Computer Science (CS) team

1990 - 1993 - Head, Academic Development Division

1990 - 2017, 2019 -Present - Open University Council

1990 – 2017, 2019 -Present - Open University Senate

1994 - 1996 - Head, CS team

1996 - 1999 - Head, Mathematics and CS Department and Head, CS Division

1999 - 2005 - Vice President for Academic Affairs

1999 - 2012 - Open University School of Technology Steering Committee

2008 - 2009 - Director, International Academic Outreach

2009 - 2012 - Vice President for Academic Affairs

2009 - 2014 - Open University Executive Committee

2012 - 2018 - Advisor to the President on Women’s and Gender Issues

12.2020 -3. 2021 - Acting Dean of Development and Educational Technology

2020 - 2022 - Chair, Committee for Implementing the English Reform

2020 - 2022 - Leading the Establishment of the School for Digital Studies

2021 - 2024 - Present - Responsibility for Hebrew, English and Arabic Website

2024 - Manager, OUI-IDF Relations

Scholarly Positions and Activities outside the Institution

Ministry of Education

1990 - 2000 - Member, Professional Committee, CS Studies in High School

2001 - Present - Member, Steering Committee, National CS Teachers' Center

2005 - 2009 - Chair, Professional Committee, CS in High School

2007 - 2009 - Co-Chair, Curriculum Committee Computer CS in High School

2009 - 2022 - Member, Professional Committee for CS in High School

2012 - 2014 - Chair, Professional Committee for CS in High School

2012 - 2014 - Member, Professional Committee for CS in Middle School

2012 - 2014 - Member, Professional Committee Systems Design, High Scho

2016 - 2022 - Vice Chair, Professional Committee for CS, High School

Council for Higher Education (CHE); Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC)

1997 - 2023 - Member/Chair, committees for accreditation CS programs

2007 - 2009 - Member, Tikshuv (computers and communication)

2013 - present - Member CHE committee for nominating college prof.

2013 - 2015 - Member of the CHE committee for teaching quality

2014 - 2016 - Member of the CHE

2016 - 2022 - Chair, Alon scholarship Committee

2018 - 2020 - Member of more CHE subcommittees for the accreditation of colleges, Reviewer of CS programs, too numerous to list here.

2010 - Present - Ba'Sha'ar - Academic community for Israeli Society

2022 - Present - Chair of Ba'Sha'ar hotline for maintain academia's values

International Professional Committees

2005 - 2015 - Member, Advisory Board, AMSA (Advanced Math and Science Academy, Charter School, Massachusetts)

2005 – 2008 - International Director, Board of Directors, Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Member and later Head of Research Committee, CSTA Head of International Committee, CSTA Member, Ad-hoc Teachers' Certification Committee, CSTA

2008 - 2020 - Advisory Council, CSTA

2008 - 2020 - Member, Research and International committees CSTA

2013 - 2014 - Member, ACM ISEF Award Committee

2014 - 2015 - Chair, ACM ISEF Award Committee

2015 - 2019 - Member, ACM Europe Council

2015 - 2019 - Member, EUACM, the European Policy Committee

2015 - 2018 - Member, CECE, The Committee on European Computing Education; (In 2018 CECE ceased to exist, Informatics4All was established)

2015 - 2018 - Member, Google's Online Education Advisory Council

2017 - 2019 - Vice Chair ACM Europe Council

2017 - Present - Member, Informatics for All

^{A coalition devised jointly by ACM Europe, Informatics Europe and CEPIS. Its purpose is to give due recognition to Informatics (Computer Science) as an essential foundational discipline for education in the twenty-first century.}

2017 - Present - Member, ACM Education Advisory committee

2017 - 2023 - IEEE Taylor Booth Award Committee

2018 - 2023 - Member, ACM Karl Karlstrom Award Committee

2019 - 2024 - Member, CC2020 ACM and IEEE Steering Committee

2021 - 2023 - Chair of ACM Karl Karlstrom Award Committee

2022 - Present - Member of the ACM Education Board

2022 - 2024 - ACM HLF – Heidelberg Laureate Forum, Young Researchers Selection Committee

2023 - 2024 - Co-Chair ACM HLF Young Researchers Selection Committee

2023 - Present - Chair, ACM Europe Council Education committee

2024 – Present - Commission Expert Group for the development of guidelines on high-quality informatics

Editorial Boards

1992 - Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Computers and Education.

2011 - 2016 - Associate Editor, Inroads – ACM Magazine

Conference Program and Steering Committee

2015 - 2019 - WiPSCE - Workshop in primary and Secondary Computing Education, Steering Committee

2015 - 2020 - WiPSCE - Workshop in primary and Secondary Computing Education, Program Committee

2017 - 2024 - ITiCSE2017 Program Committee

2017 - International Conference on Computational Thinking Education

2017 - 2019 - ACM Nomination Committee

2018 - 2024 ICER program committee

2022 - Present - More ad-hock committees too numerous to list here

Other

1995 – 1999, 2007 - 2009 Malam - The National Center for Science Education

2013 - 2016 Meital - The Inter-University Center for E-Learning – IUCEL

Participation in Scholarly Conferences

1987 – Attending, presenting, panelists in many international conferences and workshops. 3-4 each year. Some of which were keynotes or invited talks too numerous to detail here. The main conferences were: SIGCSE Technical Symposium; ITiCSE Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, WiPCSE Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, Computational Thinking, FIE Frontiers in Engineering Education and more.

Other Professional Activities

Refereeing

Extensive refereeing for professional international journals such as: Communication of the ACM; International Journal of Mathematics Education in Science and Technology; Computers and Education and Inroads, as well as international conferences such as: SIGCSE, ITiCSE, WiPSCE, CSEDU and more.

Professional Societies

• ACM

• SIGCSE

• IEEE (until 2019)

Awards and Scholarships

2007	ACM SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education
2015	IEEE Taylor L. Booth Education Award, for outstanding research and its practical application in the field of computer science education
2017	ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award
2021	ACM Fellow
2022	AAIA - Asia -Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association – Fellow
2024	AIIA - International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance - Fellow
2024	Outstanding Contriution to the ACM Award

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Publicatiom

The publications will be updated soon.

Thesis and Dissertation

M.Sc. Asymptotic Solution of Wave Propagation Problems in Slender Bodies of Revolution, Supervisor: B. Rulf

Ph.D. The Displacement due to Wave Propagation from a Finite Source in a Layered Elastic Solid, Supervisor: F. Abramovitz

Open University Books and Course Development

Mathematics

1981 - Introduction to differential equations – with Prof. Eli Levin.

1981 - Numerical computation (adapted form OU English version) – development coordinator.

1983 - 1986 - Calculus III – writing 6 units, and development coordinator.

Computer Science

academic responsibility and development coordinator.

1986 - Introduction to Computer Science using Pascal

1988 - Numerical Computataion

1988 - Computer Organization and Programming

1988 - Digital Design (tranlation and study guide)

1989 - Numerical Methods for Ordinary Differential Equations

1990 - Prolog and Artificial Intelligence (study guide)

1990 - Introduction to System Programming with C (study guide)

1991 - Automata Theory and Formal Languages – rewriting

1991 - Algorithmics: The foundations of Computer Science

1998 - Data Structures and Introduction to Algorithms

1998 - Topics in Computer Science Education – reader editing, study guide, teaching.

1998 - Computational Models for High-Schools

1999 - Computer Organization for High-Schools

1999 - Computer Organization and Programming

2000 - Introduction to Computer Science

2002 - Topics in Computer Science Education (revised) –

2008 - Algorithmics: The Foundations of Computer Science

2008 - Data Structures and Introduction to Algorithms - a different new version based on a new edition of the text book,

2008 - Digital Design

2014 - Algorithmics: The Foundations of Computer Science – development coordinator of the updated course.

2014 - Topics in Computer Science Education (updated)

2014 - Workshop – Pedagogical Aspects of CS Education

Teaching Responsibility for Open University Courses

Developing with co-Authors	Infinitesimal Calculus III	1980
	Ordinary Differential Equations Numerical Analysis	1986
Coordination, CS team	Introduction to Computer	1985
	Digital Design Automata and Formal Languages	1990
	Operating Systems	1994
	Computability and Complexity Data Structures and Algorithms Algorithmics Topics in Computer Science Education Two units for the high school curriculum Computer Organization Computational Models	1996
Rewriting	Digital Design	2005
	Algorithmics Data Structures and Algorithms	2009
Academic responsibility	Computer Applications Competitive Programming	2024

Other Teaching Experience

1969 - 1983 - All kind of courses, too numerous to list - School of Mathematics, Tel Aviv University (TAU)

1994 - 1995 - CS Education - School of Education (TAU)

Supervising Seminars and Capstone Papers

Many, too numerous to detail here.

Supervision of Master Students

Ela Zur, Tel-Aviv University 1990 Co. Prof. G. Zwas

Tal Sharon, Tel-Aviv University 1991 Co. Prof. G. Zwas

Tammy Rosenthal, The Hebrew University 1994 Co. Prof. N. Ben-Zvi

Tamar Vilner, The Hebrew University 1995 Co. Prof. N. Ben-Zvi

Adital Zeldes, The Hebrew University 1996 Co. Prof. S. Viner

Dvir Lanzberg, The Open University 2003

Guy Salomon, Tel-Aviv University 2006 Co. Prof. E. Turkel

Ido Karlan, The Open University 2018

Livnat Ben-Hemo, The Open university 2020

Chen Ulmer, The Open University

Tal Cohen, The Open University, 2022, co-instructor Dr. Rami Marelly

Ofer Wald, The Open University, 2023

Polina Lysak, The Open University, 2025, co-instructor Orit Hazzan, Technion

Supervision of PhD Students²

Ela Zur, Tel Aviv University 2001 Prof. G. Zwas

Michal Armoni, Tel Aviv University 2003 Prof. D. Tirosh

Sharon Gal, the Open University, 2025

^{2 Only in 2023 the University was certified to offer PhD programs}