Imrich · CC BY-SA 3.0

Ephraim Katzir helped found the field of enzyme engineering, developing methods for binding enzymes to solid supports while building the Weizmann Institute's biophysics department — work that earned him Israel's top scientific honors and election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He served as Israel's fourth president from 1973 to 1978, hosting Anwar Sadat's landmark 1977 visit, the first by an Arab head of state, before declining a second term to return to research.