Israeli University, Diplomat Honors Pfizer's Bourla With 'Righteousness' Award

Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla was honored in New York City Thursday night at the Open University of Israel's 50th Anniversary Gala, during which he was celebrated by Israeli officials and others for his lifetime of work, including his partnership with Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He received the Tzedek Award, meaning "justice" or "righteousness" in Hebrew, at the event hosted by American Friends of the Open University of Israel.

"For 50 years, the Open University has pursued a bold mission of welcoming students of all walks of life," Bourla told the audience.

He connected the university's mission to his own life story.

"This is the path that changed also my life," he said, recalling his parents' survival of the Holocaust in Salonika, Greece, where "98% of the people were exterminated by the Nazis."

Bourla spoke of his father's dream for him, saying, "My father always wanted me to be a scientist."

He added that intellectual challenges "have stretched my mind and provided the opportunity to learn something new every day."

Reflecting on his career — central to Israel's COVID strategy — Bourla said, "I have found profound meaning and purpose in pursuing answers to diseases that have devastated families and disrupted society."

He emphasized the global moral responsibility behind scientific leadership, saying he always returns to the principle of Tikkun Olam:

"This is in Hebrew our responsibility to repair and heal the world."

He said this work requires partnership: "What I have learned is we cannot succeed by working alone to do that, and you cannot do it in a single generation."

Bourla urged the audience to continue the mission of innovation and education.

"Let us invest in the next generation of scientists, the next generation of problem solvers," he said, adding, "Let us ensure that talent and curiosity, not circumstance, determines who can contribute to solving humanity's greatest challenges."

Ofir Akunis, the consul general of Israel in New York, followed with a forceful address tying education to Jewish survival.

He warned that the rise of antisemitism in the West is fueled by ignorance of history, saying, students who chant "Globalize the Intifada" and "From the River to the Sea" are promoting the destruction of Israel.

Akunis said these anti-Israel, terrorist-supporting individuals "prefer to ignore the October 7th massacre made by Hamas monsters, the day Hamas burned old families alive, raped hundreds of women, and kidnapped 251 innocent people."

He added, "This was an attempt of genocide."

Akunis — who also graduated from the Open University — contrasted Israeli democracy with Hamas rule.

"There is no academic freedom in Gaza, there are no human rights there, there are no women's rights there, and no freedom of speech," he said.

Akunis also highlighted his shared roots with Bourla: "Both our families are from the famous and beautiful Jewish community of Salonica."

He thanked Bourla for his close work with Israel during the pandemic, saying Israel "was one of the first countries to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic."

Later in the program, OUI President Professor Leo Corry reminded the audience, "What began in 1974 as a bold experiment in accessible, top-quality higher education, opening doors and changing lives, has evolved into a national engine of growth."

He announced new initiatives including a School for Computer Science and Generative AI, a Hub for Learning Technologies, and a Center for the Advancement of Higher Education.

Eran Broshy, chairman of OUI's American Friends, said the university is guiding Israel forward "as we turn the page from collective trauma to the day after, imagining and rebuilding forward."