Els Verbakel is a founding partner of Derman Verbakel Architecture and Head of the Department of Architecture at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem where she also directs the Masters Program in Urban Design, the UNESCO Chair in Urban Design and Conservation Studies at Bezalel and the Bezalel UNI Habitat Program. Els obtained a PhD in Architecture at Princeton University, a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design at GSAPP, and a Graduate Degree in Civil Engineering and Architecture from the University of Leuven, Belgium.