USP celebrates 80 years of its foundation

On this Saturday, January 25, the “Paulistas” celebrate the anniversaries of two facts that over time have marked the history and development of the state of São Paulo and Brazil: the 460 years of the founding of the city and the 80th anniversary ofUSP’s establishment.

For the USP community, the date has an additional significance as it marks the inauguration of professors Marco Antonio Zago and Vahan Agopyan as new president and deputy president of the institution.

The importance of USP for the scientific, technological and cultural development of the country is undeniable, but its influence in national life spans various other areas, especially those related to the formulation of public policies, as emphasized by political scientist José Álvaro Moisés, coordinator of IEA’s Quality of Democracy Research Group, in the article “A Contribuição Singular das Ciências Sociais“ (“The Singular Contribution of Social Sciences”), published in O Estado de São Paulo on January 24.

Every celebration, such as the one that occurs on this January 25, is an opportunity to remember the many achievements of USP. But it is also a time of reflection on the present and prospecting on the desired future. The IEA-USP, which has always put effort on the critical analysis of the role of USP in the academic realm and its relationship with society, has organized fundamental discussions about the new directions of the university.

Other examples of the constant collaboration of the IEA-USP to the discussion and preparation of proposals for the future of USP are the interests of its members (researchers and counselors) in publications and forums organized by other sectors of the university. It is the case of the article written by Luiz Roberto Giorgetti Britto, former deputy director of the institute, entitled “A Universidade do Futuro” ("The University of the Future"), and another one by Guilherme Ary Plonski, member of IEA-USP’s board, in partnership with Celso Costa Carrer on “A Inovação Tecnológica e a Educação para o Empreendedorismo” ("The Technological Innovation and Education for Entrepreneurship"), published in the book "USP 2034 - Planejando o Futuro” (“USP 2034 - Planning the Future" ) (Edusp, 2009), produced by USP’s planning commission and organized by Suely Vilela and Franco Maria Lajolo, president and deputy president back then.