About the Pancretan Endowment Fund

The Pancretan Endowment Fund (PEF) was established during the 1974 Pancretan Association of America (PAA) Convention in Pittsburgh, PA. An original fund-raising campaign was undertaken by PAA Chapters and individual members and the result as the creation of a $200,000 financial base for the Fund. Subsequent fund-raising efforts and prudent investing of the Fund's capital by the PEF Trustees over the years spurred the growth of the Fund's investment portfolio to heralded heights.

The Pancretan Endowment Fund represents a unique link between Cretans in the United States and those in Crete, Greece. This connection between the two countries has been nurtured over the years to increase the likelihood that these peoples with a common heritiage -- both in the United States and in Crete -- will continue to celebrate the Hellenic and Cretan identity and heritage which connect these two nations and their people. As such, the PEF is considered one of the most successfully run programs of the Pancretan Association of America.

The PEF is designed to assist the Universities of Crete by allowing them to enhance their educational faculties so that they may achieve equal status with American institutions of higher learning. This goal is achieved by providing educational programs, summer courses, internships, seminars, and bi-lateral student exchanges for the youth. In the process, the bonds of co-operation between the people in Greece and those living the United States are strengthened.

The various projects undertaken the PEF are found throughout this website and they already have made a lasting impact on Greece in general and Crete in particular. There are positive expectations that this progress will continue.