Yoram Bilu  is a professor of anthropology and the Sylvia Bauman professor of psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (emeritus). His research interests include folk religion, culture and mental health, and the sanctification of space in Israel. A major focus of Bilu’s scholarship has been the culture and religious practices of Moroccan Jews. He is the recipient of the first Bryce Boyer Prize for the best paper in psychoanalytic anthropology (1986), and the Stirling Prize for the best paper in psychological anthropology (1997), both from the American Anthropological Association; the Bahat Prize (Haifa University Press) for the best academic book in Hebrew, which dealt with Jewish Moroccan saint worship in Israel; and the Israel Prize in sociology and anthropology for 2013.

Bilu served as the chair of the psychology department (1992-4) and the head of the Authority for Doctoral Students, both at the Hebrew University, and as the president of the Israeli Anthropological Association (1989-1991). Bilu has been a visiting professor at several American Universities including UC San Diego, Brandeis University, Western Washington University, and the Jewish Theological Seminary. He has published four books and over 100 scientific papers. His recent book is: The Saints’ Impresarios: Dreamers, Healers, and Holy Men in Israel’s Urban Periphery. Brighton, MA: Academic Studies Press (2010).