Mentors, Mentees & Role Models

Last week, I learned that I was awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture. I wondered what had enabled a kid that grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Jerusalem to receive this award from the Israeli president. Of course, there are the usual suspects – loving and supportive parents and family, excellent primary and secondary education (as I get older, I appreciate more and more what I received in my primary and especially secondary school), but here I’d like to concentrate on role models and mentors.

- David Zilberman

Role models are individuals who, by their achievement and performance, show you what can be done and also how to do it. Sometimes, they are not aware of their influence on your life. The economics of technology adoption and diffusion suggests that frequently, the adoption of new practices originates with imitation. Our choices are inspired and affected by those that we consider role models. Mentors are people that actively guide you and assist you throughout your life. To some extent, they are surrogate parents, and your relationship with them evolves. They may start as your superior, but they may eventually grow to become your partner and friend. I have been fortunate to have several important role models and mentors.

Two early role models were my cousins, Abraham Doron, and Hanoch Slor. When I was a kid, growing up in poor, isolated Israel, I was very much interested in geography and seeing the world. These two cousins were able to obtain resources to study abroad in the 1950s and 1960s based on their academic achievements. I marveled at their stories and was inspired to work hard so I would have the option to explore the world while augmenting my education. As I grew older, their example was in the back of my mind, and when I had the opportunity, I came to Berkeley to get my Ph.D.