A genuine institution from Ceará, the Edson Queiroz Foundation is proud to promote the social, educational, and cultural development of the state and the Northeast region.
Born in the 1970s, in a local context marked by a deep deficit in schooling and by an embarrassing picture of regional backwardness that motivated its creation on March 26th, 1971, the Foundation was one of the ways found by industrialist Edson Queiroz to repay, in the form of social responsibility, everything that the land had already granted him.
The biggest among many social projects embraced by the Foundation has materialized at the University of Fortaleza, Unifor.
A university of excellence is born
Considering the low offer of opportunities in higher education reduced to few options of courses concentrated only in two public institutions, the University project sought to reflect Edson Queiroz's vision of excellence, this time in the Education segment.
Always attentive to numbers and with a singular intuition, Edson Queiroz knew what the statistics revealed, locally and regionally: the constant evasion of thousands of young people searching for studies that are more advanced and the lack of qualified personnel to meet the demand needed for the region's progress. That was when the industrialist presented, to family and friends, the idea of expanding the availability of education in Ceará.
In a short period, under his presidency, the Foundation's Board of Trustees and Directors was formed, which would maintain the University of Fortaleza, of which Edson Queiroz would be its first chancellor. With the creation of the new University, access to higher education was expanded, guaranteeing the formation of human resources and qualified labor for regional development.
Inaugurated in 1973, the University since the beginning has been investing daily in teaching, art, culture, and sport.
New Presidency
In 1982, Chancellor Edson Queiroz dies in a plane crash in the Serra da Aratanha, in Pacatuba, a town in the State of Ceará. His first-born son, Airton Queiroz, takes over the presidency of the Edson Queiroz Foundation and the chancellery of the University of Fortaleza. Innovation and modernity mark the new administration, when the University enters a phase of significant expansion of education consolidating the graduate programs, and expansion of extension projects, besides standing out as a reference for higher education institutions in the country.
In 2017, with the death of Airton Queiroz, his son Edson Queiroz Neto takes over as chancellor. The presidency of the Foundation passes to Mrs. Lenise Queiroz Rocha, also a daughter of the industrialist Edson Queiroz, and Mrs. Manoela Queiroz Bacelar as vice-president.
Nowadays, the University of Fortaleza has about 40 undergraduate courses. The institution has approximately 300 classrooms, 400 specialized laboratories, and more than 1,100 professors, 80% of whom are masters and doctors. It has already graduated approximately 100,000 students, graduated another 7000 postgraduates. In addition, since 2012, the institution has been in first place in the ranking of the best private universities in the North and Northeast of Brazil.
International Affairs Office - Vice-Rectory of Extension and University Community
First Floor, Rectory Building, UNIFOR- Av. Washington Soares, 1321, Edson Queiroz, CEP. 60.811-905, Fortaleza-CE, Brazil
