Haimi - the person

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Haim Nessyahu was born in Tel Aviv, on June 21st, 1964, the only son to Judith and Mordechay. His long journey of studying began at home, where his intellectual and almost antipodal mother and father created a very fertile ground for learning and nourished his zest for learning, questioning and thinking.

His formal education began in 1970 in “Gavrieli” school, in Tel-Aviv. Then, in 1973, Haim joined a newly formed class of gifted children, the first of its kind in Israel. Haim stayed with this class throughout the years in “Gretz” primary school and high-school “Ironi Dalet”. In that class, Haim met most of his lifetime friends that accompanied him and his family until his last day and beyond.

In 1982, Haim joined the military academic reserve, in the framework of which he studied towards a B.Sc. degree in mathematics and computer science at Tel Aviv University. He graduated in 1984, Summa Cum Laude. During the following five-year military service in the Intelligence Force, Haim completed his Masters in applied mathematics under the supervision of Professor Eitan Tadmor and began working on his doctoral thesis.

After resigning from the army, in 1989, he joined Professor Tadmor at NASA Langley Research Center, in Hampton Virginia, as a graduate fellow, where he continued his mathematical research. From there, Haim went on a six-month backpacking trip to South America, after which he returned to Tel Aviv University as an Instructor. He completed his doctoral dissertation in 1994 and was accepted for a post-doctoral position as Assistant Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics at the University of Los Angeles (UCLA).

Before departing to Los Angeles, Haim and Dafna, his partner, went on a trip to the Far East.

 

At dawn of April 26th, on their way down from the Annapurna Mountain in Nepal, Haim suffered a heart failure and passed away.

 

Haim's parents decided to commemorate their son's memory by establishing The Nessyahu Award. The award is given for outstanding achievements in a mathematical Ph.D. dissertation.