At a ceremony, the Lumina Fund presents its new ambassadors.

Launched in 2020, Unicamp's Lumina Endowment Fund presented its new ambassadors at a ceremony held on Wednesday evening (9) at the Visiting Professor Center (CPV), on the Campinas campus. The group, made up of businesspeople and professors, will have the mission of promoting the University and the work carried out so far with the resources raised by the fund, created by the then rector Marcelo Knobel.

Lumina allows students, alumni, companies, public institutions, and society in general to support the University in training talent, developing quality research, and carrying out assistance and outreach activities. Donations are intended to fund projects in the areas of research, teaching, outreach, and innovation.

The rector of Unicamp, Paulo Cesar Montagner, recalled having directed the Unicamp Development Foundation (Funcamp) – the body that now manages the fund – between 2010 and 2014, thanking the new ambassadors. “Thank you very much for representing Unicamp in whatever spaces you are in, at any time, anywhere in the world,” said Montagner.

The executive director of Funcamp, Orival Andries Jr., pointed out that the endowment fund is an effective tool for bringing together people who can collaborate in the development of the university. “We know that the university has limited resources. And this partnership with private companies can yield good results. Not only in terms of finances, but it can also open up a process for research and teaching development,” he said.

The general coordinator of Unicamp, Fernando Coelho, points out that the concept of an endowment fund is not yet widespread among Brazilian universities, but he is betting on the model. "It is an efficient mechanism for the University to envision other forms of financing, which can boost a range of activities," said Coelho.

Professor Marcelo Knobel, a full professor at the Institute of Physics at Unicamp (IFGW), rector of Unicamp from 2017 to 2021, and creator of Lumina, said in a video statement that "the main idea of ​​the fund is to diversify the possibilities of philanthropy; to obtain support from the community, from alumni, from the community of Campinas and Brazil and the world, who have the possibility of supporting Unicamp in the long term."

Maximiliano Martinhão, Senior Director of Government Relations for Latin America at the US company Qualcomm and a member of the Lumina Management Board, said that major transformations don't happen in isolation. "They are born from the ability to bring together people, institutions, and ideas that share the same vision of the future," he stated. "And that's precisely why we believe in the importance of strategic partnerships. Contributing to Lumina means investing in this initial transformative potential," he added.

Qualcomm is led by Brazilian Cristiano Amon, who was a student at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC) at Unicamp. He donated resources to provide scholarships for female students in STEM fields.

One of the ambassadors, the president of the holding company Companhia DPaschoal de Participações, Luiz Norberto Pascoal, warns that many companies are facing a difficult time, but believes that contributions and partnerships are built from an idea. For him, it is very important for the University to make the move to get closer to companies. "But this approach has to be accompanied by an idea," he warned.

Reference

Lumina draws inspiration from other successful initiatives worldwide, such as the endowments of Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge, Oxford, and Stanford. These so-called endowments are considered a long-term financial sustainability structure, as they ensure the continued funding of the projects that motivated the donations, such as those developed by universities.

The most famous case is the Harvard University endowment in the United States. Created in 1974, it has assets of US$39,2 billion. Approximately 35% of the resources of American universities, for example, come from endowment funds created from donations.

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