Dr. Yoram Cohen is a UCLA Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He is a former director of the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies.

Professor Cohen holds a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto (1975, 1977), and a PhD from the University of Delaware (1981). He is on the faculty of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, a UCLA Luskin Scholar, Director of UCLA Water Technology Research (WaTeR), and a member and Theme Leader at the UCLA Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEIN). He is also a co-founding member of the UCLA/National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEIN), which received the 2012 California Governor's Award in Green Chemistry. He is a recognized expert in water purification and desalination, membrane separation processes, and environmental impact assessment, with over 225 published research papers and book chapters in the above areas.

Born in Israel, Dr. Cohen maintains close ties to the country both in his personal and professional lives. He is an Adjunct Professor at Ben-Gurion University and was a Visiting Professor at the Technion from 1987-1988. Dr. Cohen visits Israel frequently and lectures on water and natural resources issues in Israel, in other parts of the Middle East, and internationally.