I guess this is another good reason against LIST
Servers............

>>> yehoshua kolodny <[log in to unmask]>
04/26/98 09:01am >>>
Dear John,
I am terribly sorry and appologize for not replying
immediately to your
request for a reference letter on Yaron Katzir. In no way
does my tardiness
reflect on y opinion of the candidate. Passover vacation,
then an
unpleasant accident and slight woundidng got me out of
normal routine for a
while. I hope it is not too late.
In recent years, almost annually has the Geology  group
within the
Institute of Earth Sciences been blessed with
extraordinary, bright and
capable Ph.D graduates, who go abroad to the best of
places and come back
after their post-doc with their colors flying high. Yaron
Katzir is one of
the best in this extremely good group. I have known him
for about ten
years now, when he started his undergraduate studies in
Jerusalem. From day
one Yaron was at the very top of his class. He made a
point of acquiring a
solid education not just in geology but non-less in the basic
Sciences at
large. He did very well in all his endeavors.
For his Masters and Ph.D Yaron joined the "Aegean
Group" in the Institute,
working with Profs. Garfunkel, Matthews and Dr. Avigad
on the structure and
evolution of the Aegean mountain chain. Both his theses
were an outstanding
success, both leading to publications in major journals.
Yaron took several of my classes in Geochemistry, and
participated in a
field trip I led. In all of them he was at the top of his class -
without
question No. 1.  I have also met Yaron from the other
aspect of our
relationships: he was my T. A. in the "Introduction to
Geology for
non-Science Majors". A tough course which tests not only
the teacher's
ability to popularize his science without compromising its
truth, but also
demands a great degree of dedication and response to
students problems. In
all these Yaron excels. In addition to  those, principally
"intellectual"
traits, Yaron is a very special human being: honest to the
extreme,  loved
by all who meet him, fellow student and teachers alike.  In
many ways Yaron
reminds one of the role- models which was placed before
us a generation ago
- deeply devoted to Society (Yaron choose to live in
kibbutz Nir Eliahu),
utterly unselfish.
Yaron is now seeking a post-doctorate position. I have no
doubts at all
that he will do extremely well in this stage as well.  When
he completes
this stage I would very much like to see him amongst our
future faculty.
Obviously this will depend on several factors: the
availability of
positions, his success at his post-doc, the field he will
chose to
specialize in. It is in this respect that I have some doubts
on the wisdom
(from Yaron's point of view) of choosing a project that
stresses too much
stable isotopes. This is not a direction our Institute will
want to
strengthen in coming years. As things appear now I
consider  Yaron Katzir
definitely  a viable candidate for a position in our Institute.
I strongly
recommend him for the Research Associate position you
are seeking to fill
Please feel free to approach me on any further detail in this
matter.


Sincerely Yours



Yehoshua Kolodny