Growing a Legacy of Care: Rob Spitzer and the Enduring Impact of Social Work at BGU
Growing a Legacy of Care: Rob Spitzer and the Enduring Impact of Social Work at BGU
April 28, 2026
Rob Spitzer (in front, at right) at a student and faculty exhibition on the BGU campus.
The field of social work typically operates in the shadows of more visible academic disciplines, largely overshadowed by advances in technology, medicine, and science. But today, amid the profound trauma experienced across Israel since the October 7th attacks and now as tensions with Iran continue to flare, social workers’ essential role has come into sharp focus.
At Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in particular, what was once overlooked is now indispensable—and it starts with an American family’s decades-long commitment to serving the region’s underserved populations.
In the 1970s, when Beer-Sheva was still a developing city in Israel’s Negev desert, a young university was just beginning to take shape. It was during these formative years that Rob Spitzer’s parents first became acquainted with BGU. He recalls how his father helped set up the sister-city relationship between the city of Seattle and Beer-Sheva, a connection that would ultimately grow into something far more enduring. As his parents traveled to Beer-Sheva and witnessed the University’s early growth, they were struck by both its promise and its challenges.
Among the clearest voids in the University’s offerings at the time was a strong social work program. The Negev is home to various immigrants and underserved populations, and the demand for trained professionals to support these communities is urgent.
Yet as Spitzer explains, “Social work is not a field that necessarily attracts big money. It’s not a glamorous academic field.” Faced with limited funding, the University considered closing its social work department altogether.
For the Spitzer family—including Rob’s mother Charlotte B. Spitzer, who worked in the social work profession—that possibility was unthinkable. “My mom said, ‘We can’t let that happen, Jack,’” Spitzer recalls, referring to his father.
Indeed, the Spitzers advocated for the importance of the social work field at the University and for Israel as a whole. They ensured the program’s survival and growth by supporting the establishment of the Charlotte B. and Jack J. Spitzer Department of Social Work in 1982. This included the construction of a dedicated building that still stands on BGU’s campus. Today, the department continues to meet the social welfare needs of the diverse population in the Negev—a colorful mosaic of Jews and Bedouin Arabs, Israeli-born natives, and new immigrants from over 70 countries.
Rob Spitzer has witnessed firsthand how dramatically these needs have grown in the Negev and nationwide since October 7th.
“We don’t know anybody in Israel who is not suffering in some way from trauma,” he says, describing a reality in which nearly every family is affected—whether it be through military service, displacement, or the constant stress of living under threat. The ongoing war has created what he calls “major trauma,” intensifying an already “pressurized situation” into something unprecedented.
This moment has underscored the foresight of his parents’ commitment decades earlier. Today, BGU’s social work faculty and students are not only responding to crises but leading innovative solutions. Their work sits at the intersection of research, technology, and hands-on community service—an approach that Spitzer sees as uniquely embedded in the university’s DNA. “Not only is research and teaching extremely important, but also community service. That ethic is behind everything that they do,” he explains.
Rob and his wife Kathleen have carried forward the family’s legacy, deepening their own involvement with BGU over the years. Through regular visits, engagement with faculty and students, and Rob’s service on the Americans for Ben-Gurion University (A4BGU) Board of Directors and the BGU Board of Governors, they have maintained a close relationship with the University and the Spitzer Department.
In the wake of October 7th, that connection has taken on even greater urgency. Rob recalls how quickly BGU’s social work community mobilized after the attacks. Within days, faculty developed tools to coordinate volunteers across the country, connecting them with immediate needs and supporting tens of thousands of displaced Israelis.
He also points to the groundbreaking work of Dr. Talia Meital Schwartz-Tayri, head of BGU’s AI for Resilience and Social Welfare Lab, as an example of how the University is combining innovation with compassion. She recently developed an AI-powered app that provides immediate, science-backed guidance to individuals experiencing shock or anxiety following traumatic events such as attacks, disasters, or accidents. This demonstrates how BGU faculty are “at the forefront of technology and social work and how to address large societal problems in the most effective ways,” Spitzer says.
For Spitzer, these efforts are not abstract—they are deeply personal. His family has experienced the devastating effects of trauma firsthand, having lost his son-in-law, a former member of the U.S. Navy special forces, to the effects of PTSD. That loss has shaped his understanding of the urgency behind mental health treatment, underscoring why the work being done at BGU matters so profoundly.
Beyond his involvement with BGU and A4BGU, Spitzer has long been a dedicated leader in the Jewish community, including as President of the B’nai B’rith International Board of Governors and former Board Chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.
“I grew up in a household where Jewish community was central to my identity,” he shares, adding that he sees BGU as an extension of these values. “Ben-Gurion University is one of the best expressions I know of for what Israel really can be and should be—a place where there’s learning, there’s cooperation, there’s understanding, and a passion to make the world better.”
That vision is also taking root locally. In the Seattle Jewish community, where the Spitzer family’s connection to BGU began, he has observed growing interest and support for the University. Community events, leadership programs, and increased awareness have strengthened BGU’s footprint and brought new generations into the fold. Last December at the Stroum Jewish Community Center, a capacity crowd came to hear BGU student and former hostage Noa Argamani share her story of hope.
Today, as Israel faces one of the most challenging periods in its history, the legacy of the Spitzer Department of Social Work continues to grow—through the thousands of lives that have been transformed by the impact the Spitzer family has helped make possible.
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