The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American

Studies, HarvardBy Moris Beracha

The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) is one of several interdisciplinary initiatives at Harvard University, organized by the Office of the Provost and administered by Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Started in 1994, the DRCLAS initiative does not directly lead to a degree, but rather it is a nexus of scholarships and fellowships that allow for academic exchanges between the faculty and students of Harvard and the faculty and students at colleges and universities in Latin America. The rationale for the DRCLAS initiative is to expand the university’s field of research and teaching on Latin America, form bonds between Harvard and institutions of higher education in Latin American countries, and elevate the awareness and understanding of Latin America among the public in the United States and worldwide. In 2002, the DRCLAS Regional Office was opened in Santiago, Chile, to administer interuniversity research and learning programs in the Southern Cone and Andean countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay; in 2006, Harvard’s Brazil Office was opened in São Paulo to facilitate research, teaching, and learning programs between Harvard and the many schools in Brazil. Since 1994, because of the DRCLAS visiting scholars and fellows program, many of the leading academics from Latin American countries have spent time at Harvard.

The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard

As a Venezuelan native and a resident of New York City for over 20 years, Moris Beracha is proud of his Latin American heritage and is a contributor to the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. In addition to his service as an investment consultant on Wall Street, Moris Beracha donates regularly to Harvard University to ensure that the DRCLAS initiative continues uninterrupted and to foster better cultural understanding between the people of Latin America and the United States.

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