Building International Networks: Banco Santander Helps Bring the World to Brown
A November 13th ceremony at the historic John Hay Library launched a partnership between Brown University and Spain’s Banco Santander. The comprehensive agreement—signed by Provost David Kertzer and Emilio Botín, Chairman of Banco Santander and parent of two Brown graduates—will enhance the University’s international profile in several significant ways.
First, the bank, through its Santander Universities Global Division, will co-sponsor an annual series of Brown International Advanced Research Institutes (BIARI). These institutes aim to bring promising young academics—particularly those from developing countries—to campus, enabling them to share their work with one another and meet with distinguished figures in their field. Four successful pilot programs for the institutes were already held at Brown this past summer.
The bank will also fund several grants for students wishing to spend one term studying at universities around the world, an internship program giving selected students the opportunity to work at Santander-affiliated banks, and a Spanish-language instruction program for Brown students and members of the Brown community.
Prior to the ceremony, Botín visited the John Carter Brown Library and its Latin American collections, explored the Main Green, and discussed the international financial crisis with Commerce, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship students. He then formally signed the Brown-Santander agreement in the Hermann Friedrich Bruhn Room, where two antique copies of Don Quixote were displayed in his honor. To bring luck to the new partnership, Botín, following in a long tradition, rubbed the nose on the John Hay bust in the library’s foyer.
“The agreement we are signing with Brown University is a very important one for us,” said Botín. “Universities constitute the basis for our countries’ intellectual and human development and their capacity for innovation and competitiveness. In five year’s time, we will have the largest network of professors and researchers in the world.”
“I don't know of any other University program that the Bank is involved with that is so unique and has such potential impact,” agrees son Emilio Botín ’86 who—with sister Carmen Botín ’87—has established scholarship funding for Spanish undergraduates through the Fundación Marcelino Botín. “I am really glad it has become a reality.”
