Universidad Iberoamericana

Ibero-American University
Universidad Iberoamericana
Motto	La verdad nos hará libres (Spanish for: Truth shall set us free)
Established	1943
Type	Private, Jesuit, Roman Catholic
President	David Fernandez Dávalos, SJ.
Location	Mexico City,  Mexico
Campus	Urban
Mascot	Lobos - "Lobo" is the Spanish word for "wolf"
Website	uia.mx

The Ibero-American University (in Spanish: Universidad Iberoamericana, abbreviated UIA but commonly known as Ibero) is a prestigious Mexican private institution of higher education sponsored by the Society of Jesus. Its flagship campus is located in the Santa Fe district of Mexico City but there are others located in Guadalajara, León, Torreón, Puebla and Playas de Tijuana.

Its main library, Biblioteca Francisco Xavier Clavigero, holds more than 250,000 books and journals. It is one of the largest law libraries in Mexico and as of 2007, it is one of the largest university libraries in the country.

History

The university was founded in 1943 as a Jesuit institution by the Catholic hierarchy, but with significant aid of the rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Rodolfo Brito Foucher. Brito Foucher, a lawyer and had headed UNAM's law faculty before becoming rector, was of the opinion that it was not counter to the Constitution of 1917's prohibition of Catholic involvement in education, since the article did not specify higher education but only primary and secondary.^[1] A key group in its founding was were former student activists from the Jesuit-directed Unión Nacional de Estudiantes Católicos (UNEC). The Ibero's founding came at a time when church-state relations were less fraught in Mexico than they had been in the late 1920s during the Cristero War and during the 1930s when the government attempted to implement socialist education at Mexican universities.^[2]

Originally called the Centro Cultural Universitario, ten years later the Ibero grew into a full-scale university, which flourished as the business community in Mexico served as patrons to the university, donating funds for building the campus and for underwriting deficits as the university was being established.^[3] As the Mexican economy expanded during the 1940s-1960s, the Ibero trained professionals who entered the private sector.^[4] Many of the former leaders of the UNEC have served on the board of trustees of the Ibero. The institution had the aim of promoting Catholic culture and training elites to take leading roles in Mexican society. The Ibero has trained a number of successful businessmen and politicians, including the successful presidential candidate of the National Action Party (Mexico), Vicente Fox.

This humanistic vocation has existed since the founding of the Society of Jesus in 1540. When Jesuits reached New Spain in 1572, their religious and educational zeal allowed them to create renowned teaching and research centers - such as the colleges of St. Ildefonso, Vizcainas and St. Peter and St. Paul, to mention a few of the institutions that became very important in their time.

The Ibero is part of a network of 8 universities located in various Mexican cities, which is, in turn, part of the Latin American branch comprehending 31 universities run by the Society of Jesus, and one of the more than two hundred Jesuit universities spread worldwide.

Campus

Universidad Iberoamericana moved to its modern new 48 acre (20 hectares) campus in 1988 located in the Santa Fe area of Mexico City.

Besides classrooms, laboratories and workshops in the areas of physics, chemistry, photography, psychology, engineering, communications, architecture, design and nutrition, the university houses the Francisco Xavier Clavigero library, the FM 90.9 radio station and several auditoriums.

Other facilities on the campus include sports fields and related conveniences, a medical center, three cafeterias, an on-campus bookstore, a stationery shop, bank branches among other university stores.

Departments

Today the university's Mexico City Campus is made up of 19 academic departments, which offer a total of 36 academic programs.

• Art Department
• Religious Sciences Department
• Social and Political Sciences Department
• Economics Department
• Philosophy Department
• History Department
• Literature Department
• Management and Public Accountancy Department
• Architecture Department
• Communications Department
• Law Department
• Design Department
• International Studies Department
• Physics and Math Department
• Engineering Department
• Chemical Engineering and Sciences Department
• Psychology Department
• Health Department

Faculty

• Luis E. Miramontes – Chemist, inventor of the first oral contraceptive.
• Guillermo Arriaga – Screenwriter of Amores perros, Babel, 21 Grams and other films. Oscar Nominee.
• José Miguel Insulza – Chilean politician and Secretary General of the Organization of American States.
• Jorge González Torres – Founder of the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico
• Demetrio Sodi – Former congressman and senator.
• Rosario Green – Former Foreign Affairs Minister.
• Augusto H. Álvarez – Architect (Torre Latinoamericana and Mexico City International Airport).
• Rodolfo Barragán Schwarz – Architect
• Isaac Broid Zajman – Architect (Telcel Building).
• Enrique Carral Icaza – Architect (Mexico City International Airport).
• Juan José Díaz Infante Núñez – Architect.
• Carlos Mijares Bracho – Architect.
• J. Francisco Serrano Cacho – Architect
• Sylvia Schmelkes – Sociologist and education researcher

Alumni

See also

• Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
• List of alumni of Jesuit educational institutions
• List of universities in Mexico

Bibliography

• Espinosa, David. Jesuit Student Groups, the Universidad Iberoamericana, and Political Resistance in Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2014.
• Meneses Morales, Ernesto. La Universidad Iberoamericana en el Contexto de la Educación Superior Contemporanea. Mexico City: UIA 1979.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Universidad Iberoamericana.

• Official website

Coordinates: 19°22′16″N 99°15′48.8″W / 19.37111°N 99.263556°W / 19.37111; -99.263556