Uzi Rubin was the founder and first Director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) in the Israel Ministry of Defense (MoD), in which capacity he initiated and managed the Israel’s nation wide effort to develop, produce and deploy its first national missile defense shield, the Arrow missile defense system. He led the Arrow program from its inception in 1991 to the first delivery of operational missiles in 1999.

He received his ME in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1969 and subsequently directed major programs in Israel Aerospace Industries and the Israel MoD. In 1990 as a visiting scholar in the Stanford Center for International Security and Arms Control he directed a major study on missile proliferation. He served between 1999 and 2001 in the Israel National Security Council, where he was senior director for proliferation and technology. He was twice awarded the Israel Defense Prize in 1996 and in 2003, and the MDA David Israel Prize for achievements in missile defense in 2000. He retired from Israel Government service in late 2002.

In 2019 he received his PhD in political science from the Bar Ilan University. He is currently a Senior Researcher in the Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies as well as in the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies where he publishes frequently on national security issues.