KBSU student’s research has been longlisted for the «Eternal Endowment» award
A paper by Alisa Shibzukhova, a student at the Institute of Law, Economics, and Finance at Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh.M. Berbekov, has been longlisted for the 5th «Eternal Endowment» award. The results were announced at the 3rd «Eternal Endowment» Assembly, held in St. Petersburg from May 18 to 20. This marks the first time a university in the North Caucasus Federal District has won this award in its five years of existence.
The «Eternal Endowment» Assembly is a key industry event, annually bringing together experts, heads of charitable foundations, and the academic community to develop strategies for the development of endowment capital in Russia. The «Eternal Endowment» award is a unique research competition organized by the National Association of Endowments, held since 2020. Its goal is to disseminate knowledge about the national tradition of endowments, which became the foundation of Russian pre-revolutionary philanthropy. The award was established by the National Endowment Association (NAE) with the support of the European University at St. Petersburg and the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
Alisa Shibzukhova’s competition entry examines the institutional evolution and effectiveness of charitable foundations providing social support to defenders of the Fatherland from 1813 to 1917. The study was conducted under the academic supervision of Renata Shibzukhova, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics and Accounting and Analytical Information Systems at Kabardino-Balkarian State University. The author and supervisor personally participated in the Assembly.
«Our focus is on the mechanism of ‘perpetual deposits,’ as endowments were called in pre-revolutionary Russia. Such donations were not spent directly but were invested at interest, creating a permanent source of funding for scholarships, hospitals, shelters, and assistance to wounded soldiers.» «The ‘Eternal Contribution’ Prize aims to reintroduce this tradition into academic and public discourse, demonstrating that endowments are not a Western import, but a deeply rooted Russian practice,» noted Alisa Shibzukhova.
The choice of topic naturally aligns with the university’s institutional development: in 2021, KBSU established and successfully launched an Endowment Fund. The study connects the historical experience of pre-revolutionary philanthropy with the university’s contemporary objectives.
«Being a laureate is a significant recognition: out of more than a hundred works from 138 Russian universities, only eight made it through. This is unprecedented for the entire North Caucasus Federal District. For five years, not a single university in the district has been among the laureates. This year, the competition’s geography has expanded to the North Caucasus—our work is the first,» Renata Shibzukhova emphasized.
Participation in the «Eternal Endowments» Assembly, which brought together leading experts in endowment funds, was not only recognition of the quality of the research but also a step toward integrating KBSU into the professional community shaping endowment culture in Russia.