The American-Hellenic Foundation of Western Pennsylvania (AHFWP) was established to foster and promote educational programs at local institutions of higher learning that can serve to cultivate academic ties between their programs and those of identical institutions in Greece.
The centerpiece and conduit of this endeavour will be a Hellenic Cultural Center and Heritage Museum in the heart of the three major institutions of higher learning in Western PA, namely the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie-Mellon University and Carlow University.
These three universities form a quadrant which serves many undergraduate and post-graduate students not only from Greece, but from the wider geographic area in which Greece lies.
Additionally, the Foundation seeks to serve as the conduit through which economic and technological ties between Greek institutions of higher learning and local centers of technological and scientific excellence can be developed and established.
Western Pennsylvania is a beneficiary of Greek immigration. Largely through the steel mills, the coal factories and the industry of the area, Greek Pennsylvanians further strengthened the cultural mosaic of this region along with immigrants from other parts of Europe. Today, Greek-Americans of Western PA are successful entrepreneurs, leaders in academia and corporate life and eminent philanthropists supporting a wide and diverse array of programs aimed at underprivileged minorities, social and economic integration and scholarly achievement.
