High Impact
Passport to Learning
| USF News
From the start of her tenure, USF System President Judy Genshaft and her husband, Steven Greenbaum, dreamed that every student would have an opportunity to travel abroad.
In February, their dream moved closer to reality when the University of South Florida Foundation announced that Genshaft and her husband are creating an endowment of $1 million to support USF students who want to study abroad. The donation establishes the new Passport Scholars program open to all USF undergraduate and graduate students.
The donation is eligible for state matching funds, creating a total endowment of $1.75 million.
"With this fund we want to ensure that students with important, innovative ideas can fulfill their goals of doing scholarship and research around the globe," Genshaft says. "We strongly believe that international travel is an essential part of a student's education. When they travel they learn about other cultures, they learn understanding and they learn how to care for one another. It is an experience students never forget."
Increasingly, employers are looking for new graduates to have overseas travel on their resumes and broad understanding of global issues.
"We believe in education and we also believe that travel can expand your horizons," Greenbaum says. "As parents we have made a point of traveling with our sons from the time they were very young, to expose them to different people and different cultures."
USF: Unstoppable Campaign Chairman Les Muma says the gift will serve as an inspiration to everyone in the Tampa Bay region.
"President Genshaft has once again led by example," he says. "True leadership requires action, and this gift from Judy and Steve signals their continuing commitment to the USF System and the USF: Unstoppable campaign."