JEAN-CLAUDE GARCIA-ZAMOR

FIU professor funds minority scholarship endowment

Last December, FIU Professor of Public Administration Jean-Claude Garcia-Zamor made a gift to the University that, together with matching funds from the state of Florida, totals $300,000 for the establishment of the Jean-Claude Garcia-Zamor Scholarship Fund for Haitian-Americans. For Garcia-Zamor, creating the endowment fulfilled a wish to give back to the community that helped nurture his development.

"I was born in Haiti and didn't leave until I was 20 years old," said Garcia-Zamor, who earned a bachelor's in political science and master's of public administration from the University of Puerto Rico, and a master's in Latin American history and doctorate in public administration from New York University. "I thought a good way to reach people within the Haitian-American community and leave a legacy to the community and to Haiti was to establish this endowment."

When Garcia-Zamor arrived at FIU in January of 1990, he was struck by the paucity of Haitian students in his classes, which he said stems largely from a lack of financial resources. "For several reasons, Haitian-Americans tend to be not as aware of scholarship opportunities as other minorities," explained Garcia-Zamor. Any student of Haitian ancestry who demonstrates financial need can apply for one of the newly created scholarships.

Garcia-Zamor taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Howard University and had a two-year visiting professorship at the Brazilian School of Public Administration in Rio de Janeiro prior to arriving at FIU. In addition, he was the elected controller of the board of directors of the Inter-American Development Bank in the late '70s. Garcia-Zamor also worked as a senior specialist in public administration at the Organization of American States and consulted for the World Bank, United Nations and U.S. Agency for International Development. He has also authored, edited or co-edited eight books.

Recognizing "this is something that the Haitian-American community needs very badly," Garcia-Zamor said he will continue to raise monies for the scholarship fund.

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