Ariel Porat, born on November 1, 1956, in Tel Aviv, Israel, is an Israeli legal scholar, professor of law, and academic administrator from a judicial family; his father, Haim Porat, served as Vice President of the Tel Aviv District Court, and his mother, Adina Porat, was a judge at the National Labor Court. He served five years in the Israel Defense Forces' Intelligence Corps, attaining the rank of major in the reserves, and has institutional affiliations including with Sami Sagol. Porat is a full professor and former dean of the Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University (TAU), where he holds the Alain Poher Chair in Private Law. Prior to his current role, he was a distinguished visiting professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School. He is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and has received prestigious awards, including the EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture in 2014 and the European Law and Economics Association Award for Lifetime Achievements in Law and Economics. Since 2019, Porat has served as the president of Tel Aviv University, Israel's largest university, overseeing its operations and strategic direction.