Professor Jorge Avendaño of Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú was awarded the Wisconsin Global Citizen Award for 2008 at a ceremony December 12 at the UW Law School. The UW-Madison Division of International Studies and Wisconsin Alumni Association jointly presented the new award to Avendaño, who traveled from Lima for the occasion.
The award to Avendaño marked the 40th anniversary of a unique collaboration between the UW Law School and the law school of Pontificia. In 1968, Avendaño, then 31 years old and the new Dean of Pontificia’s law school, worked with UW Law School Professor Zigurds (Zig) Zile to initiate an innovative Ford Foundation program to improve legal education in Peru. Between 1968 and 1972, Avendaño and other young Peruvian law professors came to study at the UW Law School in the summer, learning about the U.S. government and legal system, in order to take the information back to help reform the teaching of law in their country.
The young men, who called themselves the Wisconsin Boys, went on to high-level positions in Peruvian government and legal education. Avendaño became the minority leader in the Peruvian Congress, and is currently a professor of law at Pontificia.
Dean of International Studies Gilles Bousquet, in presenting the award, told Avendaño, "This is a historic event: presentation of the first Wisconsin Global Citizen Award, which we created to recognize an individual who has contributed significantly to make the Wisconsin Idea a global reality."
Law School Dean Ken Davis welcomed the audience, who represented several university departments and programs. "I want to express how honored the Law School is to have one of our close international colleagues be the first recipient of this award," Davis said.
UW Law School Professor Emeritus Joseph Thome told the group, "This program lasted only four years, but it had an enormous impact throughout legal education in Peru. Often these programs involve imposing our models on a recipient country. But not here. It was Jorge and his colleagues who took this idea to the Ford Foundation."
In accepting the award, Avendaño said his goal in creating the program 40 years ago was to enable a rising generation of Peruvian law professors to learn about U.S. legal education with the goal of changing their own methods of teaching. Peruvian law schools had been established according to European traditions, Avendaño said, adding, "This was the first time we had contact with an American law school. We also contacted other law schools, but we chose Wisconsin because of its law and society approach, which was exactly what we needed."
Looking back four decades later at the results of the program, Avendaño said, "The law school at Pontificia Universidad Católica is without doubt the best in Peru. And the Wisconsin Boys without exception have had outstanding careers in our country."
Representing Pontificia University at the ceremony was Professor Luis Peirano, in Madison as a visiting faculty member and Tinker Fellow in the Department of Latin American, Iberian, and Caribbean Studies. Peirano noted, "Jorge is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding professors in legal education in Peru."
Many speakers paid tribute to Professor Zile, who died in 2002, four years after visiting Peru with Dean Davis to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the program. "Zig put his whole heart into this program," said Professor Thome. "He was a mentor to these very young, very intelligent Peruvian law professors."
Another distinguished guest speaker was Pedro Pablo Kucinski, former Peruvian Minister of Finance. Kucinski said the term "Wisconsin Boys" is well-known in Peru. "This is how Wisconsin is known in Peru – because of their good reputation," he said. "The Wisconsin Boys have had a huge influence."
Submitted by on December 16, 2008
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