About

Our Mission

The Canadian Friends of Haifa University (CFHU) strives to raise awareness and funds for the University of Haifa to maintain its outstanding reputation in education, research, and community outreach. CFHU works to build connections and foster relationships between the University, its supporters, alumni, and partnering institutions in Canada.

Most importantly, we seek to support the University of Haifa to achieve all its objectives: to have outstanding academic excellence, attracting and retaining human capital (top scholars, researchers and instructors) as well as having state of the art physical and research infrastructure.

Our Impact

The University of Haifa has been a world-class academic institution for 50 years, renowned in fields such as public health, law, and education. With a diverse student body of 17,000, it is the most pluralistic higher education institution in Israel and the largest research university in northern Israel. The University is preparing for the challenges of the 21st century by expanding its disciplinary profile and focusing on interdisciplinary, problem-based research, and creating new campuses. The expansion will drive positive change in northern Israel, attracting students, faculty, and staff and fostering partnerships, creating jobs and opportunities. With the support of partners and supporters, the University aims to become the most impactful university in Israel in the next decade.

Our Team

Ariel Karabelnicoff

National Executive Director

Evelyn Kimer

Executive Assistant

Cheryl Borenstein

Marketing Strategist

Board of Directors

Canadian Friends of Haifa University was founded in 1973 by the late Ray Wolfe.

Board members in the early years included such well-known community leaders as: David Azrieli, Donald Carr, Sam Crystal, Dr. Arnold (Bucky) Epstein, George Cohon, Michael Davis, Mike Feldman and Marvin Sadowski.

Jeremy S. Levy

President

Jeremy S. Levy

Jeremy Levy is currently an Executive Director within CIBC Capital Markets’ Global Markets Group. In this capacity, he is responsible for leading Global Markets’ coverage of Private Equity, Growth Equity, Venture Capital and Private Debt clients globally.

Jeremy has worked at CIBC for the last 15-years where he has held senior positions in Global Markets, Strategy & Corporate Development, Corporate Lending and Risk Management.

He has an MBA and Master’s Degree in Economics from Concordia University.

Jeremy was a long-standing Board member and past co-chair of ArtScene Toronto, the young professionals division of Business for the Arts.

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Ari Kashton

Secretary-Treasurer

Ari Kashton

Ari specializes in providing valuation, quantification, and financial investigation services. Ari holds the Chartered Accountant designation with specialty designations in business valuation (CBV), investigative and forensic accounting (IFA), fraud examination (CFE), and anti-money laundering compliance (CAMS). Ari graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Commerce (Distinction) and a Diploma in Investigative & Forensic Accounting (Dean’s List). Ari helps clients in need of valuation, quantification, and financial investigation services, including: Transactional and notional valuations; damage / loss quantification and forensic testimony, and financial investigations and compliance reviews.

Active in the community, Ari has served as a member on the Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators’education committee and as treasurer of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management Alumni Association.

A frequent speaker on valuation and forensic accounting topics, Ari has presented at the University of Toronto, the Ontario Securities Commission, and the Association of Forensic Investigators of Canada. Ari has also instructed on valuation and forensic accounting topics at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business and Seneca College’s Centre for Financial Services.

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Elham Farah

Vice President

Elham Farah

Elham Farah is an advocate of peaceful coexistence, tolerance and mutual respect among Jews and Arabs by bringing all parties together to examine issues from the Canadian perspective.

Through the Farah Family Foundation, Elham supports educational and cultural projects that promote tolerance and understanding including the YMCA Peace Medal Breakfast, which they have presented, for the past five years, in partnership with the YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford.

Elham helped her husband, Joe, build the large chain of Hasty Market convenience stores across Ontario.

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Dr. Arnold Aberman

Vice President

Dr. Arnold Aberman

Dr. Arnie Aberman, past Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, is a member of the Order of Canada and was awarded honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Haifa (2015), Lakehead University, Laurentian University, and the University of Toronto.

 

He is a longstanding friend and supporter of the University of Haifa and the Canadian Friends of the University, and a recipient of the Carmel Award of Merit (2018). Arnie has served as National President of Canadian Friends of the University since 2015.

 

Arnie was Physician-in-Chief of Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital; Physician-in-Chief of the Toronto General and Toronto Western Hospitals; Chair of the University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine; the sixth Sir John and Lady Eaton Professor of Medicine, and Dean and Vice Provost of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.

Arnie played an important role in the establishment in Canada of Critical Care Medicine as an independent specialty and was instrumental in the establishment of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

 

Dr. Aberman has written over 60 publications on the management of shock and other problems of critically ill patients.  He has also been a visiting professor in many medical schools, has lectured throughout the world, and has held leadership positions in many academic organizations.

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Dr. Michael A. Baker

Director

Dr. Michael A. Baker

Dr. Michael Baker is the Rose Family Chair in Palliative Medicine and Complex Care at University Health Network (UHN) and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians of Canada.

​His career interests have included cancer research, medical administration, leadership in patient safety, and a consulting practice in hematology and complex medical care.

He was Physician-in-Chief of UHN for 18 years.

Michael’s research has focused on the diagnosis and treatment of leukemia and aspects of cancer control, leading to more than 100 publications in this field. He has chaired several national and provincial cancer research committees, and served as President of the National

Cancer Institute of Canada. He has been elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Michael is the recipient of several prestigious awards including The Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He has been appointed to the Order of Ontario and to membership in the Order of Canada.

In 2018, Dr. Baker received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Haifa in recognition of his distinguished accomplishments and lifelong contribution to Canadian medicine, and his support of the State of Israel.

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Sara R. Cohen

Director

Sara R. Cohen

Sara R. Cohen, LL.B. is a fertility law lawyer based in Toronto, but with clients throughout Canada and beyond.  Sara is the founder of Fertility Law Canada and a partner at D2Law LLP where her practice is exclusively devoted to fertility law.  She acts on behalf of intended parents, surrogate mothers, egg donors, sperm donors, embryo donors, and other people involved with reproductive technologies.

Sara is frequently before the Ontario courts in obtaining declarations of parentage and non-parentage on behalf of intended parents, both Canadian and international.  She also provides legal advice to domestic and international fertility clinics, hospitals, cryobanks and businesses in the fertility industry. 

Sara is an adjunct professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School where she teaches reproductive law, an elected fellow of the American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Attorneys (AAARTA), as well as the only Canadian representative on the Executive Council of the American Bar Association’s Family Law Section, ART Committee.  She is the Legal Co-Chair of the Ethics and Law Special Interest Group of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS), and the legal representative on the Ethics Committee at TRIO Fertility, one of the largest and most well-respected fertility clinics in Canada.  Sara was the co-chair of the first and second national conferences on fertility law in Canada, and was recently recognized as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada.  Sara is also a University of Haifa alum.

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Tony Comper

Director

Tony Comper

Tony Comper was appointed CEO of BMO Financial Group in February 1999 until his retirement in 2007.

Tony served as Independent Lead Director of Spectra Energy Corporation, Houston, and served as Chair of the board of Directors, PPP Canada.

Tony received the Human Relations Award from the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews & the Award of Merit from B’nai Brith Canada  He holds honorary degrees from the University of Toronto (LL.D.), Mount Saint Vincent University (D.Hum.L), the University of New Brunswick (D.Litt.), and the University of Haifa with his late wife Elizabeth. 

Tony and Elizabeth also received the Scopus Award from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They also founded FAST, a new initiative to combat antisemitism in Canada.  In November 2009, Concordia University conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) on Tony and his wife Elizabeth. In January 2011, he received the Order of Canada together with his wife Elizabeth.

Tony Comper is also a Life Governor of the University of Haifa and sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Friends of the University of Haifa.

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I. George Fantus

Director

I. George Fantus

George Fantus graduated from the McGill University Faculty of Medicine followed by postgraduate clinical and research training at McGill, the National Institutes of Health (USA) and the University of Toronto. He was then appointed to McGill and the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH). He received a Senior Chercheur-Boursier from the FRQS and became Director of the Metabolic Day Centre at the RVH. He was subsequently recruited to the University of Toronto Department of Medicine and to Mount Sinai Hospital and the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute.

At the University of Toronto, he served as Director, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism (2001-2008) and Associate Dean, Research at the Faculty of Medicine (2007-2015).

He returned to McGill in 2018. Dr. Fantus received the Young Scientist Award and the Gerald S. Wong Service Award from Diabetes Canada. He is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Professor, Department of Medicine, McGill University
Director, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Senior Scientist, Metabolic Disorders and Complication Program Research Institute – MUHC.

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Ephry Merkur

Director

Ephry Merkur

Ephry is a veteran in the apartment business. In his 45 years of experience, he has developed, purchased, and operated over 30,000 apartments across North America. His vast experience in all cycles of the real estate market provides him with a unique vantage point. Ephry guides the entire team with his patriarchal wisdom, ensuring that all decisions are made with proper respect to historical data. 

Ephry Merkur, a member of the Ontario Bar and appointed Queen’s Counsel, left his legal career early on to join the Meridian Building Group. During his long tenure there, he propelled the company forward through massive expansion, managing up to 24,000 suites.

Ephry is a respected member of the Canadian Real Estate community as a developer and property manager. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Housing Management and has represented the Multi-Family Residential industry to many levels of government on a variety of issues.

In 1998, Ephry became the Founder and President of the Croft Group, directing the company in acquiring and repositioning, managing and then reselling apartment buildings in Toronto as well as in the general Southern Ontario region.

For well over a decade, Ephry has acted on behalf of third party investors as well as himself, overseeing a portfolio of multi-unit residential buildings valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. In each deal, Ephry personally invests a significant share, lending confidence and security to his partners.

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Dr. Philip Seltzer

Director

Dr. Philip Seltzer

Dr. Phillip A. Seltzer DDS was born in Windsor, Ontario where he completed his elementary and high school education. He received his dental degree from the University of Detroit Dental School.

After graduating he practiced a few months in Windsor, and then moved to Toronto where he set up his dental practice.

He is married to his wife Marilyn, and they have three married children,
and seven grandchildren.

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Canadian Honorary Doctorate Recipients

Over the years, the University has bestowed its highest academic honours on worthy individuals around the world, and Canada has had its share of deserving recipients of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa). 

To see the full list of Honorary Doctorate degrees conferred by the University of Haifa, click here.

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