Where TAU's 2026 International Graduates Are Headed

Tel Aviv University's international Class of 2026 graduates are moving into classrooms, research laboratories, cultural institutions, diplomatic work and international business. Some are continuing their studies, while others are returning to established careers with a new area of expertise.

 

At the graduation ceremony, Prof. Milette Shamir, Vice President International at Tel Aviv University, described these outcomes as part of an "unofficial transcript": the abilities students develop that are not recorded on their diplomas.

 

She emphasized three in particular: the curiosity to keep questioning an answer, the discipline to remain with a difficult problem and the commitment to supporting claims with evidence.

 

"None of these will appear on your CV," she told the graduates, "but I suspect they will matter more than many of the skills that do."

 

Turning Study into Practice

 

Those abilities show up in concrete form. The morning of graduation, Ariel Stein, one of this year's two valedictorians, flew back from Kosovo, where she had spent the week helping run a peace camp for Jewish, Palestinian, Serbian, Albanian, and American students. For Stein the trip was, more or less, coursework in her Conflict Resolution & Mediation MA.

 

Professor Nimrod Rosler congratulates valedictorian Ariel Stein (Photo credit: Shlomi Mizrahi)

 

Studying conflict in the region changed how she approaches dialogue itself. Before Tel Aviv, she had mediated discussions among Americans with opposing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Israel, she found conversations shaped less by competing interpretations of history than by what participants had lived through in the present. That distinction now informs her work as a dialogue facilitator with Debate for Peace, which she joined through a connection her program made.

 

"The most important thing for me has been the firsthand experience of facilitating dialogue between the actual parties. That was beyond my wildest dreams when I came here." — Ariel Stein, Conflict Resolution & Mediation

 

The program also gave her a working method — the negotiation principle of focusing on interests rather than stated positions. In her valedictory address, she tied it to TAU's interdisciplinary approach.

 

"Where else could I study conflict resolution through psychological, political, legal, religious and even game-theoretic frameworks, while learning about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict firsthand in the region where it takes place?" she asked.

 

Valerie Nicolas Kryer, a graduate of the Disaster Management program, is staying on the thesis track. Originally from Haiti, she will study how socioeconomic constraints affect disaster preparedness in a country repeatedly exposed to earthquakes and other emergencies.

 

"I think I found my passion. I always knew I wanted to do something good with research. Through this program, I learned that I can use it to help other countries." — Valerie Nicolas Kryer, Disaster Management

 

Valerie Nicolas Kryer (right) with fellow graduates of the international master's program in Disaster Management at Tel Aviv University (Photo credit: Shlomi Mizrahi)

 

The degree also sharpened her quantitative work: she had studied statistics before, but said the research gave her the confidence to analyze data and apply it to a real problem.

 

For Neuroscience graduate Jenna Kirschner, the turning point was moving from the classroom into Prof. Illana Gozes's lab, where she contributed to research on a rare neurological condition.

 

"In my first degree, I mainly took courses and learned the material. Being able to apply it and gain hands-on experience was something special." — Jenna Kirschner, Neuroscience

 

From Birobidzhan to Tel Aviv

 

The ceremony's second valedictorian, Sofaer Global MBA graduate Serge Volodarski, drew on a personal history that began far from Tel Aviv. He grew up in Birobidzhan, the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region in Russia's Far East, near the Chinese border.

 

At 17, Volodarski and his future wife were expecting their first child, and were told repeatedly that they were too young and lacked the money, education and stability to succeed. They built their lives together anyway; both later earned degrees and international careers, and their daughter, now 22, is studying communications in Tokyo.

 

Valedictorian Serge Volodarski shares his personal journey with the TAU Class of 2026 (Photo credit: Shlomi Mizrahi)

 

He had come to Tel Aviv for academic knowledge, family connections and the hope of improving his Hebrew. "The Hebrew didn't happen," he admitted. "The program was simply too intense." Instead, he found at TAU a cohort from different countries and fields: bioengineering, computer science, food engineering, and economics.

 

"Choose your own path, work hard, and don't let other people's path decide your happiness."

 

New Professional Directions

 

The rest of the graduating class set off in as many directions as it came from. Mathias Shiyobya, from Tanzania, completed the MA in Security and Diplomacy and is heading toward a diplomatic career, with a firmer grasp of negotiation, international law and the management of disputes.

 

Sofaer Global MBA Class of  2026 with Professor Jackie Goren (center), the Academic Head of the program (Photo credit: Shlomi Mizrahi)

 

For Sofaer Global MBA graduate Annabelle Gersch, the next step is a semester in Singapore, then a return to Israel and management roles in film, media and entertainment.

 

"I have stronger connections and people I can reach out to for help and support. I learned a lot along the way that helped shape where I am now." — Annabelle Gersch, Sofaer Global MBA

 

Reiji Shinomiya, a pianist from Japan, finished his master's at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music and will stay at TAU for an Artist Diploma. During the degree he performed with an orchestra and regularly accompanied a vocal class.

 

Reiji Shinomiya at the 2026 graduation ceremony at Tel Aviv University (Photo credit: Shlomi Mizrahi)

 

“I became more interested in the collaborative side, rather than staying in my room playing solo piano,” he said. He also pointed to the musicians he met in Israel. "The attitude toward playing music is different, very open and free," he said.

 

"I got to play with people who approached music more freely, which I really enjoyed." — Reiji Shinomiya, Music

 

Katharina K., a Sustainable Development graduate from Germany, will return to journalism with a more focused interest in humanitarian aid and a better understanding when humanitarian interventions succeed, when they fail and why. “I want to continue to be in this field because I found amazing professors in this field,” she said.

 

Graduation 2026 at Tel Aviv University (Photo credit: Shlomi Mizrahi)

 

Kyla Assayag is moving straight from the MA in TESOL into an Israeli classroom. She will teach English in Rishon LeZion, building on both her previous experience and the ideas she developed during the program. "We spent a lot of time reflecting on who we are as people and how we bring ourselves into the classroom," she said.

 

"An important part of teaching is being our best selves and passing that on to our students." — Kyla Assayag, TESOL

 

Learning That Left the Classroom

 

Some of the year's most lasting moments happened off campus. A linguistic landscape course in the TESOL program took students on field trips through Tel Aviv to study how languages appear and function in the city's public spaces — some of Kyla Assayag's favorite days of the year.

 

TESOL students explore the linguistic landscape of Tel Aviv with Professor Elana Shohamy (Photo credit: TESOL MA)

 

Katharina K. points to a night in a Bedouin tent: "TAU connected the students and gave us opportunities to get to know the country. We got to know Israel, and each other." Annabelle Gersch remembers a cohort trip to the Negev with her MBA classmates, and a night spent stargazing together.

 

Security & Diplomacy students at a memorial to female soldiers who fell on October 7 (Photo credit: Security & Diplomacy MA)

 

Not every trip was light. Valerie Nicolas Kryer's Disaster Management group visited one of the communities near the Gaza border that was attacked on October 7: "That's one that will stay with me," she said. "It was a very, very sad experience. I don't think I'll ever forget it."

 

A Case for Nuance

 

Keynote speaker Emmanuel Nahshon, a former Israeli diplomat, urged the graduates to carry dialogue and bridge-building into an increasingly polarized world, and to stay open-minded, resourceful and guided by a clear sense of purpose in whatever field they enter.

 

Mr. Nahshon addressing the Class of 2026 (Photo credit: Shlomi Mizrahi)

 

Their official transcripts record the courses they completed and the degrees they earned. Their unofficial ones will be written by what they do next.

 

“Forget the routes you have been given, do your own math, and go build something anyway.” — Volodarski, Sofaer Global MBA

 

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Graduate Programs at the Lowy International School

 

Applications for 2026/2027 are open.

Learn more about graduate study at the Lowy International School: the Sofaer Global MBA, Conflict Resolution & Mediation, Disaster Management and more, and apply online.

 

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Watch the full recording of the End of Year Ceremony 2026