History
In 1995, Natalie and I established the Bert L. and N. Kuggie Vallee Foundation as an instrument to cultivate, refine, and implement our shared vision for education and its benefit to society. Together, we organized it as a tax-exempt Private Operating Foundation to develop and implement new approaches for the identification and fostering of originality, creativity, and leadership. Essentially, it has become our task to overcome the impediments that hinder the search for and recognition of individuals of both exceptional originality and creativity.
The Foundation’s efforts have not, however, been limited solely to the support of visiting professors. We have also innovated and implemented new programs for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as fellows with suitable and impressive academic credentials.
To these ends, we have searched for and succeeded in identifying, recognizing, and furthering suitable candidates, while pairing hosts and visitors in an informal system which fosters new partnerships and collaborations worldwide. These have resulted in international collaborations that in turn, have generated scientific research which would not likely have been undertaken without sponsorship by the Foundation.
Both in the past and in the present, most professorial visits are scheduled for just a day or two. Generally, much of that time is taken to introduce the laboratory staff and faculty to the visitor, as well as by ceremonial and lecture activities, which are part of the visit. Remarkably, that usually completes the visit.
On the other hand, one year long visits have been the alternative. However, separation of professors from their families and students has proven to be more disruptive than constructive; thereby creating problems, instead of solving them.
Looking at the standards for academic visits, it seemed to us that it would be profitable to expand those now conventional days into a month.
We have therefore designed the Foundation to overcome the hiatus created by these realities, and thus, have arranged for visits to last for longer than a few days but less than a year.
Such one month visits have proven to be a great success. The Vallee visits have proven to generate many more opportunities to plan research, conduct experiments, and establish more meaningful relationships—all without significant disruption to family life or other professional commitments.
Moreover, The Vallee Visiting Professor Program has established an enduring global network of scientific enterprise, which by its very existence creates a common ground for productive interactions among its members. It’s not just a one month visit, but a lifetime membership in what has become an extraordinary club.
Bert L. Vallee
