The Dora Röthlisberger Fund is an investment in the talent of the students of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

The Dora Röthlisberger Fund is an investment in talented students from the Faculty of Social Sciences.

It was set up in 2004 in memory of professor Dora Röthlisberger in order to give financial aid to students from the faculty who have an excellent academic performance and limited financial resources.

The contributions made from this fund have helped train more than ten professionals with excellent academic abilities to confront the challenges the country faces with creativity, responsibility, and rigor.

The fund was set up with an initial contribution from Dora Röthlisberger´s family, and ever since it has been financed thanks to donations made by the Röthlisberger family as well as generous contributions from teachers, alumni, and friends.

The Dora Röthlisberger Fund´s aim is to give financial help to students who study in departments belonging to the Faculty of Social Sciences (Anthropology, Political Science, Philosophy, History, Languages, and Sociocultural Studies) who fulfill the following characteristics:

- They are studying in either their third or fourth year

- They have a grade point average of 4.0 or higher

- They do not have the necessary financial resources to fund either one or two semesters of their degree

Impact

Ever since it was set up, the Dora Röthlisberger Fund has allowed several students from the Faculty of Social Sciences to be able to continue their undergraduate studies, and, as such, has promoted them to have greater commitment towards their academic activities as is has a direct impact on their professional progress.

Close to 29% of the Fund’s beneficiaries can carry out and finish two degrees simultaneously. From the total number of students who have received help from the fund, 57% are professionals who work as consultants, analysts, and advisors in different organizations.

The majority of students who have received help from the Dora Röthlisberger Fund have been from the Department of Political Science (65%). This is because, from the beginning, the Fund was set up to only give help to students studying this program; however, since students from other departments have been given access to the Fund in 2009, the number of students studying different programs has continued to increase. The majority of students who benefit from the Fond (65%) are from socio-economic stratus 2, 3, and 4.

Dora Röthlisberger, political scientist
(1941 - 2003)

Dora Röthlisberger, from Swiss descent, was born in Bogotá on 28th November 1941. She studied political science in the University of Michigan and a Master´s in George Washington University. In 1968 she was involved in the creation of the Department of Political Science at the Universidad de los Andes, where she worked as a full professor until her death in 2003.

She stood out for her interest in being students´ advisor and guide. In the words of Elizabeth Ungar, ex-director of the department´s Visible Congress program, "Dora was unconditional, which is a feature of true teachers: she helped students when they needed her, plus she never pretended to follow paths that they themselves needed to find and traverse".

She was a pioneer in the country in the field of international relations and in developing the first works that were undertaken on topics relating to electoral behavior and gender.