On August 8th, 1955, in Atlanta, Georgia, the idea to start Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel’s second-largest academic institution, was formulated. Bar-Ilan University is named after Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan, a prominent religious Zionist leader and head of the Mizrahi movement. It was founded by Professor Pinkhos Churgin, an American Orthodox Rabbi and educator who served as its first president from 1955 to 1957. The university emblem incorporates the Torah and a microscope, symbolizing the integration of Jewish heritage and science. During its first year, 90 students studied at Bar-Ilan in 34 courses, held in eight classrooms and two laboratories, all in provisional buildings; there were a total of 23 staff members. Studies were conducted in four departments: Jewish Studies, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Languages and Literature. Basic Jewish studies are still an integral part of the academic program at Bar-Ilan, in accordance with the university's mission statement.Even today, the university aims to “blend tradition with modern technologies and scholarship, and teach the compelling ethics of Jewish heritage to all … to synthesize the ancient and modern, the sacred and the material, the spiritual and the scientific.”