$2.5M Bridge to Brazil

A new academic program that mines the strengths of two economic powerhouse nations is taking shape at San Diego State University.

The J. Keith Behner and Catherine M. Stiefel Program on Brazil is SDSU’s first endowed academic program with an international focus.

Over the next five years, through research collaborations with major Brazilian universities, SDSU will strengthen its global leadership in public health, environmental sciences, international business and urban development.

The university will also develop new curriculum incorporating the study of Brazil in history, geography, politics and economics and will introduce a minor in Brazilian studies.

Bridging a gap

"Brazil and the United States exert tremendous economic impact in the Americas and face a host of similar challenges," said Ramona Perez, director of the Behner/Stiefel Program. "Through this collaboration, we can share information and potential solutions in the areas of health, undocumented migration, food shortages, urban development and coastline degradation."

The Brazil Program is supported by alumni J. Keith Behner, ‘71 and Catherine M. Stiefel, ‘92. The couple made a five-year pledge to establish a $2.5-million program endowment.

This is their second major contribution to The Campaign for SDSU. In 2012, a $1-million gift supported the School of Accountancy in the College of Business Administration and the Latin American Studies program in the College of Arts and Letters.

As a teen, Behner lived in Brazil for four years, and Stiefel lived in Puerto Rico as a child.  Both developed a profound respect and affection for the language, culture and peoples of Latin America. They believe that Brazil, as the world’s fifth largest country with the fifth largest population and the world’s seventh largest economy, has never received the focused attention and study befitting its status as a global economic and cultural powerhouse.

With the development of the Behner/Stiefel Program on Brazil, SDSU will take its place among a small group of national research universities with significant ties to Brazil, including Brown, Columbia, Vanderbilt, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Program focus

SDSU’s program will include five areas of emphasis:

• Curriculum building to add new undergraduate courses and graduate seminars focusing on Brazil, as well as Portuguese language courses for students and faculty
• Research development to encourage faculty from all disciplines to begin or expand research in Brazil
• Partnership exchanges to develop stronger exchange programs with universities in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and student internship agreements with the Brazilian business sector
• Visiting scholar exchanges to increase interaction between U.S. and Brazilian faculty, students, Fulbright scholars and researchers
• Special collections to create a home for the extensive archive of the Brazilian Consulate General in Los Angeles, an archive that includes 40 years of radio interviews and performances featuring major Brazilian artists.

The Behner/Stiefel Program on Brazil will be based in SDSU’s Center for Latin American Studies, but draw on faculty expertise from across the university. Faculty members from the College of Sciences, the Graduate School of Public Health and the School of Public Affairs currently conduct research in Brazil.

SDSU has also partnered with the University of California, Davis, and a consortium of five University of California campuses and seven California State University campuses on a $2.6-million proposal for federal funding to establish a National Resource Center in Latin American Studies.

The first Brazil Program Colloquium, featuring speakers on science and health in Brazil, is scheduled for Nov. 12-14 on the SDSU campus.