Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro

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Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro
Coat-of-Arms of Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro
Motto Alis Grave Nil (Latin)
Motto in English With wings, nothing is heavy
Established 1941
Type private, Jesuit,
pontifical since 1947
President Fr. Jesús Hortal Sánchez, S.J.
Students 17,900
Undergraduates 10,400
Postgraduates 7,500
Location Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Campus urban area: 27,181 acres (110 km²)
Affiliations Roman Catholic Church
Society of Jesus
Website www.puc-rio.br

The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, acronym PUC-Rio) is a private non-profit Pontifical University in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Contents

[edit] History

PUC-Rio was created in 1941 by the Society of Jesus in order to develop knowledge based on humanistic values. With approximately 12,000 undergraduate students, 2,500 graduate students and 4,000 extension students, PUC-Rio is consistently recognized as one of the top universities in Brazil. In 2009, it outperformed all other Brazilian universities in ENADE, an important benchmarking exercise of the Brazilian Ministry of Education ([1]). One can fully appreciate the scale of this in noting that, by 2008, Brazil had 2.252 higher education institutions ([2]).

PUC-Rio is widely acclaimed for its excellence in Law, Engineering, Computer Science, Psychology, Economics, Business and International Relations. The University is also known for its free cultural aspect. It has always tried to bring in the broadest types of students in order to foster and develop diversity amongst its student body. PUC-Rio has been responsible for the formation and education of many professionals who have become influential and important characters of Brazilian society.

In the past few years PUC-Rio has been developing International Exchange Programs with universities all over the world. Universities such as Harvard, Notre Dame, UCLA, Brown University and many other European centers have participated in the program, which is responsible for the exchange of hundreds of students every year.

[edit] Location

PUC-Rio is located in Gávea (link to Google maps), a neighborhood located in the south zone of the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. It sits right at the edge of the Tijuca Forest (a national forest), with a river extending from the forest through the entrance of PUC-Rio. Tree-covered mountains make up the north view of the campus.

A large number of city bus lines have stops at the entrance of University. It is close to Leblon, Ipanema, Jardim Botânico and Lagoa, which are some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Rio. The subway authority (Metrô) has planned expanding its line to a station at the entrance of PUC-Rio, however, while the Gávea station is not built, Metrô-branded buses connect the University to the Siqueira Campos station (which is located in mid-Copacabana) and to "Botafogo" station (on Botafogo beach).

[edit] Campus

The campus was built with donations from many institutions and foundations in the early 1940s. A special donation was given by the USA during the President John Kennedy government, which was thanked by a statue with John Kennedy's face and with a building in PUC's campus named after the president.

It is located in a place which used to be a coffee farm long ago. A river divides the university campus in two, and there are three small bridges to connect these halves.

There are four libraries on campus: the Central Library, located on the third floor of the Frings building, and one specialized library per center.

Rio Datacentro (RDC) is the computer center. The first Internet provider in the country, RDC has a state-of-the-art multiprocessor computer and a graphics-computing center, among other equipment and programs. It also provides free access to the Internet to all PUC-Rio students, who can use the terminals located in various microcomputer laboratories on campus or their own portable wireless devices.

Solar Grandjean de Montigny, PUC-Rio's Cultural Center, has displays of visual arts exhibitions all year round.

At the Pilotis (Kennedy building's ground floor), many cultural events take place, like political debates, shows and fairs. The "Festa Junina" is a traditional folkloric festivity with a country-life ambiance. Typical food, costumes and dances bring alive an old way of living in Brazil. It takes place every June.

On PUC-Rio's campus there are also three restaurants, 5 coffee-shops, 1 pizza-parlor; a bookstore and an office supply store; many copy centers; branches of three banks, (Itaú, ABN AMRO Real and Santander Banespa, subsidiary of Banco Santander); a post office; a newsstand and ATM machines. Close to the campus there are a great number of shops, banks, the Planetarium, specialized bookstores, restaurants and even a mall. The Botanical Gardens and Leblon beach are within walking distance.

[edit] Departments

Center of Technical Science (CTC - Centro Técnico Científico)

Center of Social Sciences (CCS - Centro Científico Social)

Center of Theology and Humanities (CTCH - Centro de Teologia e Ciências Humanas)

[edit] Research

The Lua programming language was developed by Roberto Ierusalimschy, Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo, and Waldemar Celes, members of the Computer Graphics Technology Group (Tecgraf), at PUC-Rio beginning in 1993.

[edit] Famous Alumni

Many prominent members of the Brazilian society have graduated in PUC, in areas such as politics, economics and culture.

[edit] Rectors of PUC-Rio

  1. Fr. Leonel Edgar da Silveira Franca, S.J. (1941-1948)
  2. Fr. Paulo Bannwarth, S.J. (1948-1951)
  3. Fr. Pedro Belisário Velloso Rebello, S.J. (1951-1956)
  4. Fr. Artur Alonso Frias, S.J. (1956-1962)
  5. Fr. Laércio Dias de Moura, S.J. (1962-1970)
  6. Fr. Ormindo Sodré Viveiros de Castro, S.J. (1970-1972)
  7. Fr. Pedro Belisário Velloso Rebello, S.J. (1972-1976)
  8. Fr. João Augusto Anchieta Amazonas MacDowell, S.J. (1976-1982)
  9. Fr. Laércio Dias de Moura, S.J. (1982-1995)
  10. Fr. Jesús Hortal Sánchez, S.J. (1995-present)

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Brazil topics
History
Politics
Economy
Geography
Demographics
Culture
Other topics
Portal · Brazil Collaboration · Current events in Brazil · WikiProject
v • d • e
Education in South America
Sovereign states
Dependencies
1 Territories also in or commonly considered to be part of North America and/or Central America.  2 Territories also in or commonly considered to be part of Antarctica.

Coordinates: 22°58′45.48″S 43°13′56.82″W / 22.9793°S 43.23245°W / -22.9793; -43.23245

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