Council for Assisting Refugee Academics

The Council for Assisting Refugee Academics ( CARA, . Significantly Council in support of fleeing academics ) is a British charitable organization based in London. It supports academics who are persecuted or threatened for different reasons. It was founded in 1933 in response to the discrimination in Nazi Germany under the name Academic Assistance Council ( AAC).

Its president is currently Malcolm Grant.

History

The Academic Assistance Council ( AAC) was founded in April 1933 by William Henry Beveridge in response to the handling of the NSDAP with German scientists. The idea came in on the way to Vienna. He won Ernest Rutherford as President and Archibald Vivian Hill as vice president. In May 1933, they spread a founding document that was signed by many prominent British academics. At an event at the Royal Albert Hall in London 10,000 people were present; among others, Albert Einstein spoke of the importance of academic freedom.

In 1936, named to the organization in the Society for Protection of Science and Learning ( SPSL ). This should be expressed that not only individuals should be supported, but academic freedom in general.

After the war helped the organization of the communist countries, especially China and the Soviet Union, fleeing scientists. In the 1960s, many researchers from South Africa and Chile were. Since the 1990s, the focus of the organization on the Middle East shifts.

Since 1999, the organization called the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics ( CARA ).

Organization

The CARA is headed by a so-called Council of Management, where up to 25 people belong mainly from the academic world. It meets annually before the CARA annual general meeting.

Current occupation

Currently includes the following 17 persons to the Council of Management (September 2013):