Academic Faculty

The courses in the Zell Entrepreneurship Program are taught by a faculty with extensive experience in diverse fields.

Adv. Liat Aaronson is the executive director of the Zell Program. She has a B.A. in political economy of industrial societies (economics and political science, cum laude) from the University of California, Berkeley, an LL.B. and MBA from Tel Aviv University, and an LL.M. in European law from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands (cum laude). She has been a member of the Israel Bar Association since completing her internship at Kantor, Elhanani, Tal and Co. in 1999. She attained practical experience in M&A and venture capital as an associate attorney at Naschitz, Brandes and Co., a position she held until joining IDC Herzliya in 2005. She serves as a director of StartupSeeds, a youth technology entrepreneurship program. She was the co-organizer of the first TEDx event in Israel, TEDxTelAviv and of TEDxHolyland.

Liad Agmon is a serial entrepreneur with rich experience as a startup founder and a Fortune 500 executive. He founded information security vendor Onigma (acquired by McAfee) and social search company Delver (acquired by Sears Holdings). Following Delver's acquisition, he served as a VP of New Services and General Manager of Social Commerce at Sears Holdings, and was a board member for the US$ 2 billion dollar business units of Home Electronics and Outlets. He is currently an entrepreneur-in-residence at Bessemer Venture Capital, a top-tier US venture capital firm. He holds a B.A. (cum laude) from Tel-Aviv University in computer science and film studies. 

Mike Emery is entering his 10th year as a faculty member of the Zell program. He is a business and brand strategist and the CEO of Brand Central Ltd. Until recently, he was a Senior Partner of Wolff Olins, one of the world's leading strategic consultancy companies for brand creation and reinvention, part of Omnicom Group, London and New York.  In Israel, Mike is best known for creating strategies for leading Israeli companies like HOT, Elco, Pelephone, 888, and many others, following many successful brand creations by Wolff Olins in Israel (e.g. Orange and YES). He is also a regular judge for Israel's annual BizTech competition, an advisor to VCs and investor groups, and is himself an investor in early stage tech and start-up companies.

Dr. Yoram Friedman is an adjunct lecturer at IDC Herzliya. He has a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Chicago, and both a B.A. in economics and statistics and MBA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was a faculty member at Tel Aviv University for a decade, during which he taught operations research, operations management and statistics. He then co-founded Yeda Computers Ltd. to introduce market and distribute Apple computers in Israel. He served as the company’s CEO for 10 years and brought the company to IPO in 1991. 

 

Dr. Eyal Maoz is the Academic Director of the ultra-orthodox campus at Ono Academic College. He has a Ph.D. in marketing from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University where he spends each summer teaching both MBA and executive classes. Dr. Maoz also teaches regularly at INSEAD, France. He is the founder and a former academic director of EMBAIM at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His specialties are marketing strategy, marketing research and new product development.  

Dr. Ayal Shenhav, Adv. is the founder and senior partner at Shenhav & Co., Law Offices, a leading Tel-Aviv law firm dealing with high-tech, private equity, taxation and project finance. He has been a member of the Israel Bar Association since 1991 and of the Bar Association of the State of New York since 1992. Dr. Shenhav has earned a Doctorate of Juridical Science degree (JSD) and an LL.M in taxation from the New York University School of Law. and an LL.B (magna cum laude) from Tel Aviv University. He practiced law for several years at Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP in New York and was later a senior partner at Danziger Klagsbald & Co. Law Offices. Dr. Shenhav served as vice dean of the Radzyner School of Law at IDC Herzliya. 

Dr. Etay Shilony is a clinical and management psychologist. Dr. Shilony has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, an M.A. in psychology from Boston University and a B.A. from Tel Aviv University. After completing an internship at Harvard Medical School and holding management positions at clinical facilities in Boston, Dr. Shilony returned to Israel to be the clinical director of an outpatient treatment center at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. He has been teaching at IDC Herzliya since 2000 and at Tel Aviv University since 1993. Dr. Shilony has held teaching positions at Boston University and at the Harvard Medical School.

Prof. Yair Tauman is a leading professor of economics at State University of New York, Stony Brook and a director of the Center for Game Theory in Economics at Stony Brook. He studied at Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he obtained his Ph.D. and M.Sc. in mathematics, both under the supervision of Nobel Prize winner Robert Aumann, and his B.Sc. in mathematics and statistics. His areas of research are game theory and industrial organization. Professor Tauman served as the dean of the Arison School of Business from January 2010-August 2011. He has been the academic director of the Zell program since 2009.  

Ms. Abigail Tenembaum is an international coach and director of programs at TAI Group, a boutique consulting firm pioneering new directions in executive leadership and organizational change.  She has an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York and worked as a strategy consultant for Bain and Company in Boston and New York. She also has a background in the performing arts. She wrote and directed for theater and film in Israel and the U.S. Abigail works with individuals and groups worldwide to help foster and grow their communications and leadership capabilities.
 

Mr. Michael Weitz, an international coach at TAI Group, is highly skilled in bringing out each individual's natural talent, creativity and vision. He works with an international roster of clients. Michael spent a decade directing, producing and acting on and off-Broadway. His work with individuals and groups has been featured in Fitness Magazine, The Coaching Show, WIBC Indianapolis and Coach TV in the United States, as well as The Jerusalem PostCalcalistGlobes Business Journal and Channel 3 Weekend News in Israel.   

Galya Racine is a businesswoman and management consultant with international experience and a unique approach to problem-solving. Ms. Racine founded Innovation Wise, a boutique innovation consulting firm servicing numerous Israeli corporations in the field of innovation. Ms. Racine led numerous strategic projects in various fields, including innovation management, CRM processes and enterprise software. Ms. Racine holds a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Tel Aviv University, as well as an MS, Civil Engineering and an MBA, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she was a Leaders For Manufacturing (LFM) fellow. In 2006, she was interviewed by "The Marker" as one of four Israeli innovation experts.