Alice Miller, an aerospace faculty alumni, lit a torch at the opening ceremonies for Independence Day at Mt. Herzl. This year, 14 “trailblazing Israelis who made the world a better, safer, more interesting and more advanced place” were chosen to light the torches.
Alice was born in South Africa and immigrated to Israel at age 6. She always dreamed of being an astronaut and obtained her civilian pilot’s license at age 20 and began university studies as an IDF academic cadet at the Technion Faculty of Aerospace Engineering.
In 1994, while still a student, she petitioned the High Court of Justice against the Ministry of Defense and the IDF for not being accepted to the selection phase of the pilots’ course. Her petition was accepted by the Israel’s Supreme Court, although she herself was not accepted to the pilots’ course. Alice graduated and served as an officer in the Israeli Air Force.
Following her discharge, she worked as CEO of a few companies and at a certain point moved to a small village in India. During her years in Israel she lived at her home in Kibbutz Hukok.
The Ministerial Committee for Ceremonies and Symbols noted “her struggle promoted the achievement of gender equality throughout Israeli civic society”.
