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Eugene Kandel

Prof. Eugene Kandel


CEO, Start-Up Nation Central


Prof. Eugene Kandel holds a BA and an MA in Economics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and an MBA and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. He is an Emil Spyer Professor of Economics and Finance at the Hebrew University.


Prof. Kandel’s primary area of expertise is Financial Markets and Financial Intermediaries. His research is published in the world leading Finance and Economics journals. Prof. Kandel served as Editor and Associate Editor of several Finance journals. He is a member of the Center for the Study of Rationality at the Hebrew University, a Research Fellow of the Center for Economic Policy and Research in London, and a Fellow of the European Corporate Governance Institute.


Prof. Kandel served as a consultant to government agencies, companies, financial institutions, and non-for-profit organizations; served as a judge on the Israeli Antitrust Court, and as a Chairman of the Investment Committee of pension and provident funds in Israel. Between 2009 and 2015 he served as Head of the National Economic and Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister, and in that capacity was instrumental in designing the most important features of economic policy.


Since November 2015, Prof. Kandel serves as the CEO of the Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit dedicated to strengthening Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connecting it to governments and organizations solving global problems.