The Board of Governors of Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University School Corporation (OIST SC) has appointed Dr. Daniel Zajfman as OIST interim President and Chief Executive Officer from the beginning of April 2026. Dr. Zajfman will take up responsibilities after Dr. Karin Markides' transition to an externally-focused role as Executive Advisor.
Dr. Zajfman currently serves as a member of the OIST SC Board of Governors. He is a researcher and science leader of international renown and his work focuses on fundamental understanding of molecular dynamics and structure, and the dynamics of ions in traps.
Born in Belgium, Dr. Zajfman received his PhD in Atomic Physics from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. Following postdoctoral research at the Argonne National Laboratory in the United States, he joined the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, in 1991. In 2006, he was elected as the Institute's tenth and youngest-ever President, holding this role until 2019.
Dr. Zajfman is the Simon Weinstock Professor of Astrophysics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and continues to shape science policy as Chairman of the Academic Board of the Israel Science Foundation.
He is a Fellow of the Israel Physical Society and a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His prizes include the Harnack Medal of the Max-Planck Society (2023), and his honors include Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques (France) and Commandeur dans l'Ordre de Leopold (Belgium).
