Former Bank of Israel Governor Flug returns to Hebrew University
"We are delighted that Prof. Karnit Flug is joining our department," said chair of the Hebrew University's economics department Prof. Eric Gould.
By EYTAN HALONFormer Bank of Israel Governor Dr. Karnit Flug(photo credit: Courtesy)
Former Bank of Israel governor Dr. Karnit Flug will return to her alma mater, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as a senior lecturer in economics.Flug, the BoI’s only female governor to date, will rejoin the university in October four months after concluding a five-year term at the helm of the country’s central financial institution. She will be lecturing on Israeli economics.“I will be honored to be a member of the senior staff of the Hebrew University,” said Flug, adding that it will be exciting to again teach at the university where she began her professional career.“As part of the course on the Israeli economy, which I will be teaching in the coming academic year, I will be able to analyze the development of the Israeli economy on the basis of economic theory with the experience that I accumulated in managing economic policy during my various positions at the Bank of Israel.”Flug both grew up and acquired her academic education in economics in Jerusalem, graduating with honors from her master’s degree in economics at Hebrew University in 1980. She then continued to pursue her doctoral studies at New York’s Columbia University.Prior to returning the university as a senior lecturer, Flug spent almost her entire career at the Bank of Israel, only spending three years away from the organization since 1988. After two years as deputy governor, she succeeded Stanley Fischer in July 2013.Flug’s term as governor was defined by economic stability but political friction, clashing several times with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon over issues including business tax cuts, increasing the budget deficit and government housing policy.In December, Prof. Amir Yaron was inaugurated as the new governor of the Bank of Israel after a decade as professor of banking and finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.“We are delighted that Prof. Karnit Flug is joining our department,” said chair of the Hebrew University’s economics department Prof. Eric Gould.“She has won international awards for her leadership of the Bank of Israel, and now our students will be fortunate to learn about the Israeli economy from her in the new course that she will be teaching,” Gould said.
“Prof. Flug was a student in our department in the past, and we are happy that she is returning to us and helping to train the next generation of Israeli economists.”
