San Juan | Wednesday, January 22, 2025 | Motivated by the excellent education he received in Georgia Tech, in Atlanta, Georgia, and the desire for talented young people to achieve the same, the Puerto Rican Francisco J. Uriarte recently established in the Puerto Rico Community Foundation (FCPR) on Uriarte-Bruno Family Fund. With this, it seeks to support the scholarship fund of the educational institution, which specializes in engineering education and which has been alma mater of other Boricuas.
“With this Fund I seek to support the Transforming Lives Scholarship Fund to strengthen the possibilities for talented students to achieve an academic degree in Georgia Tech, regardless of their economic situation”, said Uriarte. “I embrace the path that philanthropic institutions such as the Puerto Rico Community Foundation facilitate for us,» he added.
Uriarte holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, with a minor in Finance, of Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology) and a Master's Degree in Finance from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. He has more than 30 years of experience in corporations, strategy, marketing, operations, finance, mergers and acquisitions. Meanwhile, his son Joaquín M. Uriarte is also a graduate of Georgia Tech, where he earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, in 2022, and is currently working as an analyst at Accenture San Francisco. Likewise, her daughter Irene B. Uriarte, is in her first year of her bachelor's degree in industrial engineering in Georgia Tech.
“It is wonderful to see how philanthropy blossoms in the hearts of people grateful for the opportunities they have had in life, as the background of the Uriarte-Bruno family shows us. There are many ways to give back and this is one of those, and we are honored to be an institution that facilitates that path of love for humanity,” said FCPR president and chief executive officer, Dr. Nelson I. Colón Tarrats.
For its part, Mary Ann Gabino, The Community Foundation is honored to facilitate Uriarte's grants. Through this type of fund, we become a bridge that makes possible the wishes of people who have crossed borders to grow, and come back and contribute so that others can continue to grow.
Uriarte follows in the footsteps of José Domingo Pérez, another Puerto Rican, also a graduate from Georgia Tech, who established a fund bearing his name to support the establishment of a permanent Chair in the name of José Domingo Pérez, at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Chile, and to support the establishment of a permanent Chair in the name of José Domingo Pérez, at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Chile. Georgia Tech.
“Georgia Tech has developed a very close link with Puerto Rico, thanks to its students and alumni, who have been characterized by excellence in what they do. Likewise, they are people of immense generosity. Thanks to the high value that they place on education as a tool for the development and progress of society, several alumni and friends of Georgia Tech have decided to support scholarship programs. We hope that 2025 will be a year to provide more opportunities for bright young people. We will continue to work from Georgia Tech in continuing to strengthen ties with Puerto Rico,» he said. Sara Araujo, Director of Development for Latin America at Georgia Tech.
According to the website of Georgia Tech, the international community of the educational institution dates back to 1895 when the first students from Puerto Rico were enrolled. Following the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017, the educational institution organized an emergency scholarship fund for students from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and reported that at that time 62 students from Puerto Rico were enrolled at the institution.
FCPR currently manages 102 philanthropic funds, 34 of which are scholarship funds.