LASPAU

LASPAU: Academic and Professional Programs for the Americas "is a nonprofit organization affiliated with Harvard University and governed by an independent, inter-American board of trustees. LASPAU designs, develops, and implements academic and professional programs to benefit the Americas. For further information on LASPAU's current and past activities and capabilities, please see the Programs and Services sections of this site." [1]

History

"LASPAU’s initial goal was to provide opportunities for undergraduate study to academically exceptional Latin American youths of limited economic means in fields not available in their home country and for which there was a priority need. Thirty-four U.S. colleges launched the program by offering 39 Colombian high school graduates a fully financed bachelor’s degree course. Henry Holland served as the founding director. The students, selected in cooperation with ICETEX, undertook intensive English language training in Colombia in order to enter U.S. degree programs in September of 1965.

"As soon as this first group obtained admission to U.S. universities, plans were set in motion for a second round of grantees. It had already become apparent to LASPAU’s founders that one of the great services the program could offer was to contribute to strengthening Latin American institutions. Consequently, the second group of students included both individuals who had recently graduated from high school and students who were already enrolled in Latin American institutions of higher education. The latter group committed to returning to their home institutions to teach on a full-time basis for a period of four years following the completion of their exchange programs.

"In addition to students from Colombia, the group selected in 1965 to begin studies in the fall of 1966 included individuals from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. One hundred and forty LASPAU students were accepted at 130 U.S. universities.

"With the second group of grantees, the U.S. Agency for International Development began covering the students’ maintenance, books, and incidental personal expenses. USAID also took over most of the administrative costs of the program, which had been covered by the Ford Foundation in the start-up phase of the effort. U.S. universities—who had fully funded the initial group of grantees—continued to provide tuition scholarships and to participate as dues-paying members of LASPAU. From this point onward, all of the grantees obtained English language training and/or cultural orientation at international training institutions in the United States." [2]

Trustees

• Peter Bryant - (Treasurer) - Chief Financial Officer, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, Massachusetts
• Claudio de Moura Castro - Director, Faculdade Pitágoras, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil
• Brian D. Farrell - Executive Committee Member - Professor of Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
• William L. Fash - Bowditch Professor, Central American and Mexican Archeology and Ethnology, Harvard University
• Muni Figueres - Executive Committee Member - (Chair), Consultant, Washington, District of Columbia
• Gustavo Herrero - Executive Director, Harvard Business School , Latin America Research Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Eduardo R. Macagno - Dean & Richard C. Atkinson Professor of Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
• Thomas P. McDermott - Executive Committee Member - Managing Director, TPM Associates, Wellesley, Massachusetts
• Thomas E. McNamara - Ambassador (ret.), Adjunct Professor, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
• Rafael Rangel Sostman - Executive Committee Member - Rector, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México
• Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui - Director General Finanzas, Vitro, S.A., Garza García, Nuevo León, México
• Lucía Santa Cruz - Directora, Instituto de Economía Política, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Las Condes, Chile
• Cristian Shea - (Vice Chair) - President y CEO, Latinvalley, Inc., Santiago, Chile
• Debora L. Spar - Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, Allston, Massachusetts
• Ned D. Strong (Ex officio) - Executive Committee Member - Executive Director, LASPAU, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Laura E. Sitkin - Clerk of the Corporation, LASPAU, Cambridge, Massachusetts

has bios

Contact

25 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge, MA 02138-6095
USA
Phone: (617) 495-5255
Fax: (617) 495-8990
Email: laspau-webmaster AT calists.harvard.edu
Web: http://www.laspau.harvard.edu