Avram Heilman (June 9, 1979 - ), born in New York, NY, is an American - Israeli scientist and statesman, considered to be one of the foremost professionals in Israeli public life in the first half of the 21st century. Best known for his formative work on the Israeli constitution and other reforms of the system of government in Israel, Heilman is also an accomplished neuroscientist, having published several landmark papers in the field of neurophysiology.

Personal, Early years

Heilman is the son of sociologist Samuel C. Heilman and psychologist Ellin M. Heilman, and is the third of four boys; the others are Adam (1973 - ), Uriel (1975 - ), and Jonah (1982 -). The Heilman family spent the years 1979 - 1994 shuttling between New York and Jerusalem, where Samuel carried out his fieldwork. He returned to New York for high school, a period which he describes in his memoirs as "[F]ormative and pleasant, if a bit psychotic." Scholars are unsure what to make of this description in light of apparently contradictory descriptions of his schooling at the Ramaz Upper School as "[M]iserable... It was the sort of place where the underwhelming, under-confident, and compulsively conformist ruled, a Darwinian dystopia where the worst rose to the top."

Heilman's academic career continues with a year spent at Yeshivat Birkat Moshe in Ma'aleh Adumim, the desert suburb of Jerusalem. Scant material has been found describing this period; testimonials placing him in the study hall or even perched atop the roof of the kitchen have aroused controversy in academic circles, where some theorists call stories of his Yeshiva studies unfounded.

College

All concur that Heilman began his undergraduate studies at Brandeis University; sources in the President's office describe the young Heilman as "determined, brilliant, sociable... an idealogue whose ideas on Marx and Freud brought him to the attention of senior faculty at an early stage." Senior faculty in the Sociology department dismiss claims of early greatness, however, calling his disagreement with central Marxist tenets "Cowardly," and his subsequent decision to join Israel's military "[A] misguided exercise in machoism."

Military Service

Military records show that Avram Heilman served with distinction as a sharpshooter in the Golani brigade, and graduates of this crack infantry unit remember him as an excellent guard. "He was an average runner, I guess, kind of a thin, wiry guy," said Gil, a former commander interviewed in the May, 2004 edition of "Rolling Stone." "...He shot pretty good. The thing he was best at was guarding. That guy could sit and watch the trees for hours without falling asleep. Never knew him to read a book or talk on the phone, he'd just scratch out haikus with the end of the barrel of his M-16. At least, he said they were haikus. None of us would have known the difference, at the time. And no one could read his handwriting, as it were." Heilman's own writings on his military period are eccentric. "The showers at bislach [school for mechanized infantry, south of Beer Sheva (-ed.)]" he writes at one point, "were amazing. The water pressure and the heat. I can't remember anything like it."

Heilman at Harvard

Heilman enrolled at Harvard College in 2000, as a transfer student. He studied computational neuroscience, but dabbled in arabic language and literature, political science, and law, as well as a failed foray into surrealism. His roommates recall a popular eccentric, "[W]ho bit off more than he could chew, but then somehow managed to chew it all, swallow it up, and let out a nice belch as if it were nothing," according to Albanian roommate Renat Grigorescu. After a failed early bid to become treasurer of Dunster House, Avram focused his energies on the public defense and promotion of Israel, womanizing, and volunteer work at the local prison. "He spent weeks trying to teach me what irony meant!" exclaimed T, an inmate at the Suffolk County House of Corrections currently serving his fourth 2-year term this decade. "I used to smoke a lot, so, you know, it was hard for me to learn. But I don't smoke any more. Now, that's irony!"

Heilman was more succesful in his other pursuits, establishing the Harvard Students for Israel, pursuing collaborations with the Society of Arab Students, and writing several influential pieces in the Harvard Crimson. A well-known face in University Hall, several current and former Deans of the college remarked that they were certain from the start that Heilman would go far, and they often competed for the chance to write recommendations on his behalf. "The way I see it," said one, "they'll make a movie about him someday. Kind of like a cross between Good Will Hunting and A Beautiful Mind, but sexier. I want to be the guy that writes the recommendation for him while he's out grabbing a beer with the beautiful brunette from the lab next door, or the rock star / poet father and son combo who live over in Allston. I always dreamed of a hollywood cameo appearance. A small one, but with a closeup on my face and hand and pen. I'll just be penning the word, 'excellence.'"

Heilman spent much of his senior year on his first piece of scientific work that would win him public acclaim. "Computational Models of Epileptiform Activity in Single-Neuron Cultures" quickly became a cult classic, and the Harvard Rare Books Library (Pusey) keeps an original copy of the manuscript in its archives, available to the public by appointment only. Heilman was awarded the prestigious Thomas T. Hoopes prize for his work, and subsequently published an abridged form in the journal Biosystems (2004).

Harvard Medical School was quick to realize Heilman's excellence, and quickly recruited him to the Laboratory for Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience. In the meanwhile, however, he was awarded a Fulbright grant and elected to spend the next year studying the Political Dynamics of the Arab citizens of Israel in Jerusalem.

Israel

Fulbright

Heilman commenced research on Rhetoric and Political Action among Arab MKs in the fall of 2003, following intensive Arabic language study in Israel. The Political Science department of the Hebrew University welcomed him warmly, but Heilman spent only a short time on Mt. Scopus, instead spending more and more time at the Knesset as his grant drew to a close, Heilman took his first job in the public service, one which would leave an indelible mark on Israeli public life. He began as a junior staffer in the Constitution for Israel project office, an affiliate of the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel. Heilman quickly rose through the ranks to direct the office.

Romance

Heilman's romantic life was rich and occasionally stormy. His first relationship...