On March 3, 2024, Israel (Issy) Drori passed away at his home in Ramat HaSharon, Israel, after a long battle with cancer. He left behind his wife Nili, his children Tali and Iddo, and five grandchildren. He was 76 years old.
Being a trained anthropologist and sociologist (PhD from UCLA), Israel was a leading expert on organizational processes and change, studying identity, trust, legitimacy, authenticity and entrepreneurship. He published more than 100 articles and several books, using mainly ethnographic and narrative perspectives to cover topics such as transnational entrepreneurship, start-up imprinting and acceleration, microfinance, post-merger integration, and emergence of innovation ecosystems. For many years he served as a professor at Tel Aviv University and the College of Management Academic Studies in Israel, held visiting positions at various institutions, including Simon Fraser U., U. of Michigan, and Tsinghua U. He was also a successful entrepreneur. Since 2016 Israel was a professor in Organizational Ethnography and the Head of the Department of Organization Science at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, until being an emeritus in 2021.
Besides being an excellent researcher and teacher, Israel will be remembered by his colleagues and co-authors as a true friend. He was always committed to colleagues, serving others, having fun, with a strong sense of family at work. For many, he was a great mentor and academic father, who offered support and confidence. It was a pleasure working with him and an honor knowing him. We will miss him, mostly our conversations with him, his humor, optimism, persistence, laughter, sharpness, modesty, kindness. When asked at his department at VU what he wanted most, he replied: 'H.P', that is 'Happy People.'
Sierk Ybema, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Kerstin Neumann, Innsbruck University
Dovev Lavie, Bocconi University
Yiannis Kyratsis, Erasmus University
Shmuel (Mulli) Ellis, Tel Aviv University
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Kerstin Neumann
University of Innsbruck
Innsbruck
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