Donor creates ASU scholarship for Peruvian undergraduates

Entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist Carlos Rodríguez-Pastor believes education can transform society and has been modifying Peru’s education system to improve learner outcomes and cultivate future community leaders.  

In honor of that belief, Rodríguez-Pastor donated $10.5 million to the ASU Foundation for scholarships to aid exceptional Peruvian undergraduate students at Arizona State University. The scholarship will cover tuition, room and board for undergraduate students pursuing any major.

The Cometa Peruvian Scholarship will begin this fall with a cohort of four scholarship recipients and increase by two additional students each year for five years.

ASU is the second public university to receive scholarship funding from Rodríguez-Pastor; the first was his undergraduate alma mater, University of California, Berkeley.

“The power of education can change lives, providing tools to create a better society,” Rodríguez-Pastor said. “ASU’s charter aligns with my vision that our companies take responsibility for the people and the societies in which we operate. Our corporate purpose is to help Peru be the best place to raise a family and that includes access to an affordable, quality education.”

Rodriguez-Pastor’s commitment to advancing education and improving socioeconomic conditions for Peruvians stems from his belief in the shared value concept, which is defined as “policies and operating practices that enhance the competitiveness of a company while simultaneously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates,” by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter and Mark Kramer, co-founder and managing director of FSG.

Rodríguez-Pastor, founder and chairman of Intercorp, a conglomerate of Latin American companies in banking, retail, education and health care, earned his bachelor’s degree in social science from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MBA from Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business. He returned to Peru in 1994 and took over banking operations a year later when his father died unexpectedly. Over time, he scaled banking operations and built new companies, several of which have an education focus.

In 2011, Rodríguez-Pastor co-founded Innova Schools, the largest private school network in Peru, serving more than 63,000 students from kindergarten to secondary school with 63 schools in Peru, six in Mexico and three in Colombia.  

Intercorp’s educational investments include Innova Schools, Universidad Tecnológica del Perú, Idat Institute, PeruChamps and Innova Teaching School.

“ASU and Mr. Rodríguez-Pastor share a vision of expanding access to education across the globe,” said Nancy Gonzales, ASU executive vice president and university provost. “We will be grateful stewards of the generous donation and look forward to creating a welcoming, inspiring and empowering academic home for the students who will join ASU as Cometa Peruvian Scholarship recipients.”

Rodríguez-Pastor is also co-chairman of the Chairman's International Advisory Council of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, member of the Global Advisory Council at Harvard University, member of the board of trustees at Dartmouth College and member of the board of trustees at The New York Public Library.