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Below is a copy of an article that the University of California at Berkeley, College of Engineering published in its current Spring 2004 Forefront magazine --a synopsis recognizing some of one of its alumni: Victor Pinzon's life work.

http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/forefront/spring2004/pinzon.html

SPRING 2004 http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/forefront/index.html

Working to build a better world for Hispanics

Pinzon image

Victor Pinzon (left) meets with a delegation of Guatemalan community leaders invited to the U.S. by AGF’s Come to Washington! Program.
PHOTO COURTESY OF VICTOR PINZON

It was a Hollywood movie that inspired him to immigrate to the U.S. from humble roots in South America. But rather than personal fortune and fame, Victor Pinzon (BS ’64 ME) was seeking something much loftier: a better life for himself and his people.

“My future in Colombia did not look bright or challenging,” Pinzon says. “I made up my mind that, if I was allowed to enter the U.S., I would do any and all work within the law necessary to accomplish my goal.”

Now, 45 years later, Pinzon is effecting change economically, socially, and politically as president of The Americas Global Foundation (AGF), the Washington, D.C.-based think tank and advocacy organization he founded in 1991. His goal is to empower Hispanics in the U.S. and the peoples of Mexico and Central and South America and build a bridge of understanding linking the Americas.

“In order to accomplish any change, we have to come together with other people to exchange ideas and adjust our thinking,” Pinzon says. “In math there is one solution to every problem, but that’s not so in engineering or in life. I look for solutions where everybody wins.”

The idea of coming to America hit him like a thunderbolt in 1957, when he saw “Rebel Without a Cause,” the James Dean film dramatizing the angst of marginalized youth. Pinzon spent a year raising funds through his own mattress manufacturing business and, on a snowy morning just after his 18th birthday, arrived in New York City.

Although the first advice he received from a fellow countryman was to turn around and go home, he held fast to his vision. Within six months, Pinzon found a high school where he could get his diploma. In 1959 he was accepted at Berkeley to study engineering and topped that off with a Berkeley M.B.A. in 1966. He paid his way with numerous jobs, sometimes as many as four at one time, including gardener, teaching tennis, busing dishes at the Faculty Club, and working as a teaching assistant, while still managing to play varsity soccer.

For AGF’s two major programs—one to bring students to Washington to mobilize them politically, and another to build affordable housing for low-income families—Pinzon has succeeded in getting the attention of U.S. congressmen to secure federal matching funds. He does most of the work at AGF himself. Challenged by modest resources, he counts on members, advisors, and volunteers around the globe for support.

“I may be a dreamer, but I believe all of this is doable,” he says. “I invite those who are really passionate and committed to do something for themselves and their communities to join us.” For more details on AGF, visit the Web site at http://theamericas.org vip@theamericas.org

FOREFRONT takes you into the labs, classrooms, and lives of professors, students, and alumni for an intimate look at the innovative research, teaching, and campus life that define the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
Published three times a year by the Engineering Public Affairs Office. Have a comment about Forefront? E-mail your letter to the editor. Click here to learn more about the magazine

The University of California –Berkeley has been for over a century and continues to be one the Top Universities in the United States and the world

No. 1 in Number of Doctorates Awarded

University of California -Berkeley awarded 799 doctorates in 2002, more than any other single institution in the U.S., according to a report sponsored by six federal agencies and published in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Berkeley ranked fifth in granting engineering doctorates, behind MIT, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Stanford, but ranked first overall and in the broad fields of humanities and the physical and social sciences.

According to the report, only 39 percent of engineering doctorates went to U.S. citizens.

No. 1 in Number of Patents Issued

The University of California remains first in “technological strength” among universities in the U.S.

University of California was first in 2002, with 466 patents issued, up from its first place showing in 1997 with 305 patents.

Patent activity at academic centers has experienced a boom in the last five years, the report claims, fueled by growing entrepreneurism on college campuses and a proliferation of university-related startup companies.

University of California –Berkeley College of Engineering Dean's message:
A global peace corps of engineers

The People’s Republic of China produces 450,000 engineers annually—more than four times as many as the U.S.—and the difference is growing every year. Each newly minted Chinese engineer commands an average annual salary in China of less than $10,000 (U.S.), about one-fifth the starting salary of the average Berkeley Engineering graduate. Russia and India are also producing large numbers of engineers willing to work for much lower salaries than their American counterparts.

What can we do to continue to distinguish the graduates of Berkeley Engineering and ensure that they retain their high value in a growing global marketplace? It is indisputable that the U.S. leads the world in specialized skills, technology, and salaries. But our undergraduates tend to be woefully behind in worldly wisdom, international travel experience, foreign language abilities, and basic awareness of how other peoples live and think.

To maintain our leadership role, we must correct this imbalance. Fundamental studies in the sciences and mathematics will always form the core of our engineering programs, but our research universities must also begin to think globally by incorporating examples of diverse, real-life experience into the curriculum. My own belief is that this is best done outside of student life, away from campus and home, in some distinctly different place on the planet.

At Berkeley, we are creating a task force to consider such an experience as part of the curriculum—perhaps as part of a fifth year of study—through a global engineering technology ‘peace corps.’ I envision young engineers working in communities all over the world, partnering with practicing engineers, faculty and students from other disciplines, other universities, and perhaps other countries, and working within local infrastructures and governments to identify problems and to help find solutions.

As someone who left his native Australia to study at Berkeley, then traveled and lived for three months in a small village in India, I know firsthand that there is no comparable experience for a young, passionate student to learn that he or she has a great deal to offer, as well as a great deal to learn. I believe that the leaders of tomorrow will be those who truly involve themselves in our world today. We must provide an effective opportunity for our students to experience the realities of global engineering as a part of their Berkeley Engineering education.

A. Richard Newton
Dean, College of Engineering

Abajo es una copia de un articulo que la Universidad de California -Berkeley, Colegio de Ingeniería publico en su revista FOREFRONT de Primavera 2004 --reconociendo parte del trabajo de Victor Pinzon, graduado en 1964.

http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/forefront/spring2004/pinzon.html

SPRING 2004 http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/forefront/index.html

Trabajando para construir un mejor mundo para Hispanos

Pinzon image

Victor Pinzon (izquierda) se reúne con una delegación de Guatemala, lideres comunitarios, invitados a Washington por AGF en su programa ”Empoderamiento –Agentes de Cambio” Venga a Washington!
Foto cortesía TLQNews

Fue una película de Hollywood que lo inspiró a emigrar a los Estados Unidos de humilde raíces de Sur America. En lugar de fortuna y fama personal, Victor Pinzon (BS ’64 ME) buscaba algo mas: una mejor vida para su gente y para el.

“Mi futuro en Colombia no parecía brillante por falta de oportunidades iguales,“ dice Pinzon. “Decidí que si se me permitía entrar a los EEUU, haría el trabajo y sacrificio que fuera necesario dentro de la ley para lograr mi objetivo.”

Ahora, 45 años mas tarde, Pinzon está contribuyen-do a realizar cambios económico, social y político como presidente de Americas Global Foundation (AGF), una ONG, think-tank, no partidista, basada en Washington, DC que fundó en 1991.

“Para lograr cualquier cambio, necesitamos unir fuerzas, establecer alianzas estratégicas, intercambiar ideas y ajustar nuestra forma de pensar,” dice Pinzon. “En matemáticas hay una solución para cada problema, pero ese no es el caso en ingeniería o en la vida. Yo busco soluciones en donde todos ganan.”

La idea de venir a los EEUU lo golpeó como un rayo en 1957, cuando vio “Rebelde Sin Causa,” la película de James Dean que dramatiza la angustia de la juventud marginada. Pinzon dedicó un año para conseguir los fondos a través de su propia negocio en Bogota fabricando colchones, y en una madrugada nevada antes de cumplir 18 años, llego a la ciudad de Nueva York.

Aunque el primer consejo que recibió de uno de sus paisanos fue que se regresara inmediatamente a Bogota, el se mantuvo aferrado a su visión. En seis meses, Pinzon encontró un colegio en Pennsylvania donde obtuvo su diploma. En 1959 fue aceptado en Berkeley para estudiar ingeniería y la aseguró con un MBA también en Berkeley, en 1966. Pinzon se pagó sus estudios con numerosos empleos, algunas veces hasta cuatro a la vez, incluyendo jardinero, enseñando tenis, “busboy” en el Club de la Facultad, y como profesor asistente, sacando tiempo para jugar en el equipo de Soccer de la Universidad.

Para dos de los principales programas de AGF-–uno trayendo estudiantes y otros a Washington para desarrollar lideres y empoderarlos políticamente, y otro construyendo vivienda para familias de bajos recursos—Pinzon ha logrado obtener la atención de miembros del Congreso para conseguir ‘matching’ fondos. El hace casi todo el trabajo en AGF. El principal reto son recursos; el obtiene respaldo de asesores, voluntarios, pasantes, y donaciones a través del mundo.

“Quizá soy un sonador, pero creo que todo ello es realizable,” el dice. “Invito a todos los que tengan la intensa pasión y motivación a unirse para implementar los excepcionales programas de AGF diseñados a empoderar nuestras comunidades y países –paso a paso.” Para mayor detalles de AGF, visite la pagina electrónica http://theamericas.org

Americas Global Foundation:
930 M Street, NW Suite 609 Washington, DC 20001
202-371-9696 Fax: 202-216-9550 vip@theamericas.org
Copyright © 1996-2004 ALTEX for Americas Global Foundation. All rights reserved.

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