Oral history interview with Jorge Balán, 2013

Jorge Balan begins by discussing his educational background and early career: his undergraduate sociology studies at the University of Buenos Aires in the 1960s; doctoral studies in Texas; teaching jobs in Mexico, New York, and Brazil; and return to Argentina in 1973. Balan then discusses the development of his interest in educational reform, his work for the Ministry of Education in post-dictatorship Argentina in the 1980s-90s, and returning to the U.S. to work for the Ford Foundation in 1997. Balan goes on to detail his involvement in the ten-year Partnership for Higher Education in Africa (PHEA) project during his tenure at the Ford Foundation, outlining the initiation of the project by Vartan Gregorian and the Carnegie Corporation of New York and discussing the goals and challenges by the initiative. Topics include coordination between multiple philanthropic foundations, budgeting and partitioning grants, dealing with diverse educational systems across many different African countries, building networks of researchers to develop fields like science and agriculture, and working to create professional opportunities for African women. Balan concludes by discussing how his involvement in PHEA impacted his views on higher education and comparing issues of higher education in Africa to those in Latin America and the U.S.