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Longtime Italian Studies supporter sets up fund for graduate students

Alessandro Carrera
Prof.Alessandro Carrera,
Director of Italian Studies


Rocco Ronchi
Prof. Rocco Ronchi

Gift creates Ugo di Portanova Endowed Scholarship in Italian Studies for master’s candidates

The Ugo di Portanova Endowed Scholarship in Italian Studies, benefitting students earning master of art degrees in the World Cultures and Literatures, has been established in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

Ugo di Portanova, who was born in San Francisco but calls Houston his home base, is a longtime supporter and patron of Italian Studies at the University. His first donation in 1988 contributed to the creation of the Italian major and an undergraduate financial scholarship bearing his name.

That scholarship – now in its 24th year of aiding students – covers expenses associated with sending up to four students each summer to the University for Foreigners in Siena, Italy.

In 2003, Mr. di Portanova donated funds to establish the “Ugo di Portanova Lecture Series” to bring Italian scholars, authors and artists to the University campus. Since that time, 17 Italian luminaries have shared their expertise as series lecturers.

The next talk in the series is “The Ghost of Life: For a Genealogy of Bioethics” to be delivered by Rocco Ronchi, professor of Philosophy at University of L’Aquila, Italy, at 6 p.m. on March 7 in the Honors College Commons on the second floor of the M.D. Anderson Library.

The new gift of $50,000 creates a sustaining endowment and provides cash support for the Italian Studies Program’s recruitment and retention of high-caliber student leaders.

“Thanks to Ugo di Portanova’s generosity, the UH Italian Studies Program continues to grow and flourish and deserving students are being provided with resources essential for their academic success,” said Professor Alessandro Carrera, director of the Italian Studies Program and graduate director of the World Cultures and Literatures Program.

“The University, the College, the students and the entire community have greatly benefited from Ugo di Portanova’s philanthropy,” Carrera said, “and we are so grateful for his continued support.”