Helen Icken Safa, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Latin American Studies at the University of Florida, established this fund in 2006. She joined the faculty of the University of Florida in 1980 where she served as the first female director of the Center for Latin American Studies (1980-85).

Dr. Safa is also past President of the Latin American Studies Association, a 6000 member organization made up of the North American and Latin American scholars. She was presented the Kalman Silvert award of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) at its 2007 Congress in Montreal, in recognition of her distinguished lifetime contributions to the study of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The principal reason Dr. Safa established the travel endowment is to encourage graduate students to participate in the LASA Congresses. Safa specializes in the Caribbean, where she has worked for over 50 years. Her publications in this area include hundreds of articles, several co-edited books, and two monographs: the Urban Poor of Puerto Rico and the Myth of the Male Breadwinner: Women and Industrialization in the Caribbean. As the titles suggest, she focuses on issues of gender, race, development, poverty and migratio