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Laura Wharton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Doctor
Laura Wharton
Born (1962-12-21) December 21, 1962 (age 61)
NationalityIsraeli
Other namesלורה ורטון
CitizenshipAmerican, Israeli
Alma materHarvard University, Cambridge (Political Science)[1]
The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
OccupationLecturer
Years active1998–present
Employer(s)The Hebrew University, Jerusalem (since 2012)
Known forA Jerusalem politician
Notable workDoctorate about the social policy of the Mapai and the Israeli Labor Party parties
Political partyMeretz
Parents
  • Ralph Nathaniel Wharton[2] (father)
  • Eleanor Walden (mother)

Laura Wharton (in Hebrew: לורה ורטון; born December 21, 1962) is a member of the Jerusalem City Council[3] and a lecturer of the Political science in the Hebrew University. She serves as the chairman of the Meretz faction in The Jerusalem Union electoral list, which has been led by Yosi Havilio.[3][4] Until 2024, Wharton held the portfolio for promoting women's status and gender equality, the portfolio for service quality and the portfolio for promoting pensioners' welfare.[3] She won the Prime Minister's Award for her doctorate about the social policy of the Mapai and the Israeli Labor Party parties.[5][6]

Biography

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Wharton was born and raised in New Jersey, the United States.[1][7] Her mother, Eleanor Walden, was an educator and an administrator in higher education, and her father, Ralph Wharton, practiced psychiatry and neurology at the School of Medicine at Columbia University, New York.[2] She attended the Phillips Exeter Academy and completed a bachelor's degree in Political Science at the Harvard University. After graduating, she immigrated to Israel in 1984 and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, as a lone soldier.[8] Wharton served as a corporal at the Nahal and lived in the kibbutz Kfar Blum. After her military service, she was accepted as a member in the kibbutz,[9] and worked as a teacher of mathematics at the Emek Hahula High School. She completed her master's degree and the doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[10] During her master's degree, she worked at the Davis Institute for International Relations in the Hebrew university and in the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research. She wrote her doctoral thesis in the department of Political Science at the Hebrew university, under the guidance of the professors Itzhak Galnoor and Shlomo Avineri. The doctorate dealt with the ideological changes in the social policy of the Mapai party and the Israeli Labor Party in the 1960s, until the 1977 Israeli legislative election. Afterwards Wharton became an external lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[9][10][11]

Public life

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Wharton was among the founders of The Public Housing Forum [he], which led the legislation of The Public Housing Law [he] in 1998 by the former MK Ran Cohen from Meretz.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Laura Wharton on Facebook
  2. ^ a b Ralph Nathaniel Wharton on Facebook
  3. ^ a b c Reich, Aaron (2024-02-25). "Laura Wharton: The accessibility advocator fighting for an equal Jerusalem". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  4. ^ Laura Wharton (2024-02-27). "בעוד 4 שעות ייסגרו הקלפיות" [In 4 hours the polls will be closed]. Facebook (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  5. ^ Yogev (2022-04-11). "Is the Party Over? How Israel Lost Its Social Agenda". Levi-eshkol.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  6. ^ Laura Wharton (2022-08-11). "הוענק לי פרס רה"מ על שם לוי אשכול על מחקר שבדק שינויים במדיניות החברתית בישראל" [I was awarded the Prime Minister's Award, named Levi Eshkol, for a study which examined changes in the social policy in Israel]. Facebook (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  7. ^ Tiffany L. Stanley (January–February 2010). "Insider Activist". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  8. ^ Laura Wharton (2022-01-12). "בינואר 1984 עליתי על מטוס מניו יורק לתל אביב" [In January 1984 I boarded a plane from New York to Tel Aviv]. Facebook (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  9. ^ a b c Arik Bender (2012-11-08). "לורה ורטון רצה למרצ ומתנגדת לקיצוניות" [Laura Wharton rans for Meretz and opposes extremism]. Makor Rishon (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  10. ^ a b Laura Wharton. "About me". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  11. ^ "Laura Wharton". Speakerhub.com. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
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