Αντιφώνηση Γεωργίου Α. Δαυΐδ στην τελετή αναγόρευσής του σε επίτιμο διδάκτορα του Tμήματος Φιλολογίας της Φιλοσοφικής Σχολής του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών.
(EL)
University sponsorship plays an integral role in supporting leading academicinstitutions as centers for learning and academic excellence.Support of universities, however, can more broadly, also benefit societyas a whole by providing the means of overcoming the current financialcrisis. Various sponsorship and funding models help universities inEurope and the USA, achieve their goals – some of which are also successfullypracticed by universities in Greece. Around the world, state/governmental funding (provided, for instance, through the operationof Research Councils) remains essential for the majority of universities;particularly in supporting “blue sky research” or “curiosity-drivenscience” which often leads to ground-breaking, pioneering new applications.Universities are, however, also building close links with themarket, not only through various models of corporate sponsorship, butalso by encouraging entrepreneurship within the university system itself.University “spin-off” companies are turning innovative researchand/or the provision of services into a competitive advantage: generatingsignificant revenue that can then be re-directed into cutting-edgeresearch. If such sponsorship models mainly benefit fields such as finance,science and technology, however, this leaves a field of particularimportance in the sidelines: the humanities. A field which, especially intoday’s rapidly shifting world, is of paramount significance if we are tobuild, in the Platonic sense, a global society permeated by the valuesof humanism. In this respect, the support provided to universities bycharities, foundations and trusts is instrumental, bringing the notion ofsponsorship closer to the ancient Greek practice of χορηγεία which promotesthe common good. In the case of Greece such organizations havefocused for decades on promoting the study of Greek history and letterson an international level; among them, the A. G. Leventis Foundation has supported academic achievement in the field of Hellenic Studies in leading universities world-wide. But where does this leave Greek Universities today? Numerous funding models are successfully used to support research in various fields in Greece – but what is needed is a climate of change within the university system itself, which will allow our academic institutions to excel, free of the influence of party-politics, and attract broader sponsorship, not least from the great Greek Diaspora which has always rallied in times of crisis. Such a focus on education will truly allow us to move forward, and to prosper, benefiting individuals and society as a whole.
(EN)
