Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Latin: Universitas Catholica Chilensis
Motto	In Christi lumine pro mundi vita
Established	June 21, 1888
Type	Private (Traditional)
Religious affiliation	Catholic Church
Chancellor	Ricardo Ezzati Andrello
Rector	Ignacio Sánchez Díaz
Admin. staff	2,732
Students	22,122
Location	Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins #340, Santiago
Website	www.uc.cl

The headquarters of the UC.

Inside Casa Central

The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC or PUC) (Spanish: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two Pontifical Universities in the country, along with the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. It is also one of Chile's oldest universities and one of the most recognized educational institutions in Latin America. Since it is a Pontifical University, it has always had a strong and very close relationship with the Vatican. It was founded on June 21, 1888 through a decree issued by the Santiago Archbishop. Its first chancellor was Monsignor Joaquín Larraín Gandarillas, and at the very beginning, the university only taught two subjects, law and mathematics. It is part of the Universities of the Rectors' Council of Chilean Universities, and although it is not state-owned, a substantial part of its budget is given by state transferences under different concepts.

According to the "Higher Education Supplement" (THES), published by British newspaper The Times, it is located in the 277th spot among the world's best universities, making it the best ranked Chilean university and the second best in South America. In 2011, the university enrolled about 48% of top scores in the university admission test.

It's ranked 2nd in Latin America according to the QS World University Ranking. Its law school was ranked 1st in Latin America and 44th worldwide in the 2012 QS World University Ranking.

Campuses

UC has four campuses in Santiago and one campus in Villarrica. The campuses in Santiago are:

• Casa Central (in downtown Santiago)
• San Joaquín (in Macul Commune of Greater Santiago)
• Oriente (in Providencia Commune of Greater Santiago)
• Lo Contador (also in Providencia Commune)

These four campuses have a total of 223,326.06 m² constructed in a 614,569.92 m² area. The Villarrica campus has 1,664 m² constructed in a 2,362.5 m² area.

History

UC was founded on June 21, 1888, to offer training in traditional professions (law) and in technological and practical fields such as business, accounting, chemistry, and electricity. On February 11, 1930, Pope Pius XI declared it a pontifical university, and in 1931 it was granted full academic autonomy by the Chilean government. It is a private, urban, multi-campus university. It is one of the eleven Chilean Catholic universities, and one of the twenty-five institutions within the Rectors' Council (Consejo de Rectores), the Chilean state-sponsored university system.

UC's 18 faculties are distributed through four campuses in Santiago and one regional campus located in southern Chile. The technical training centers affiliated with the University are: DUOC, the Rural Life Foundations, the Baviera Foundation, the Catechetical Home and the San Fidel Seminary. These centers carry out technical-academic extension activities in rural and agricultural areas. Other UC activities are a Sports Club, a nation-wide television network, and a Clinical Hospital dependent on the Faculty of Medicine.

UC 's Graduates of the School of Architecture (one of the most prominent in Latin America) have also made important contributions to the country with such work as the Central Building ("Casa Central") of UC, and the National Library.

Two of its most important alumni are the Jesuit Saint Alberto Hurtado and Eduardo Frei Montalva, a Chilean president. Both of them studied in the School of Laws. Sebastián Piñera, current Chilean president, graduated from the university's School of Economics.

Collaborations

The Department of Industry and System Engineering is engaging Stanford Technology Venture Program of Stanford University on a collaboration on innovation and technology ventures.

Double degrees

The following is a list of double degrees offered at a graduate level.

• Ph.D. in Engineering
  • Beijing Jiaotong University (China)
  • Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (France)
  • Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
  • Politecnico di Torino (Italy)
  • Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain)
  • University of Colorado at Boulder (USA)
  • University of Waterloo (Canada)
• Ph.D. in Biological Sciences
  • Paris VI, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (France)
  • Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux II (France)
• Ph.D. in Education
  • Paris V, Université René Descartes (France)
• Ph.D. in Architecture
  • Politecnico di Torino (Italy)
• Ph.D. in Astrophysics
  • Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (Germany)
  • Università degli studi di Padova (Italy)
• Ph.D. in Psychotherapy (Psychology)
  • Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (Germany)
• Ph.D. in Agricultural Science
  • Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux II (France)
• Ph.D. in Mathematics
  • Paris VI, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (France)
• Master of Economics
  • Universiteit van Tilburg (The Netherlands)
  • Université Paris Dauphine (France)
• Master in Communication and Education
  • Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain)
• Master in Animal Production
  • Paris VI, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (France)
• MBA
  • Groupe HEC Paris (France)
  • The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, (United States)
  • WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management (Germany)
  • Torcuato di Tella (Argentina)

Faculties and subjects

• College UC
  • Bachelor of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
  • Bachelor of Social Science
  • Bachelor of Arts and Humanities
• Faculty of Agronomy & Forest Engineering
  • Agronomy
  • Forest Engineering
• Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Urban Studies
  • School of Architecture
    • Architecture
  • School of Design
    • Design
  • Institute of Urban and Territorial Studies
• Faculty of Arts
  • School of Visual Art
    • Visual Art
  • School of Theater
    • Acting
  • Institute of Music
    • Music
• Faculty of Biological Sciences
  • Biology (with an academic major in "Natural Resources & Environment" or "Bioprocesses")
  • Biochemistry
  • Marine Biology
• Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences
  • Commercial Engineering
  • Economics Institute
  • School of Administration
• Faculty of Social Sciences
  • Institute of Sociology
    • Sociology
  • School of Psychology
    • Psychology
  • School of Social Work
    • Social Work
• Faculty of Communications
  • School of Journalism
    • Journalism
    • Audiovisual Direction Program
  • Institute of Medical Studies
• Arts Faculty
  • Arts
• Faculty of Law
  • Law
• Faculty of Language and Literature
  • English Literature and Linguistics
  • Spanish Literature and Linguistics
  • Institute of Chinese Literature
• Faculty of Education
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Education
  • General Education
• Faculty of Engineering
  • School of Engineering
    • Dept. of Computer Science
    • Dept. of Engineering and Construction Management
    • Dept. of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering
    • Dept. of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering
    • Dept. of Transportation and Logistics Engineering
    • Dept. of Industrial and Systems Engineering
    • Dept. of Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering
    • Dept. of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering
    • Dept. of Electrical Engineering
    • Mining Center
  • School of Construction
    • Construction
• Faculty of Philosophy
  • Institute of Philosophy
    • Philosophy
  • Institute of Aesthetics
    • Aesthetics
• Faculty of Physics
  • Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
    • Astronomy
  • Department of Physics
    • Physics
• Faculty of History, Geography, and Political Science
  • Institute of History
    • History
  • Institute of Geography
    • Geography
  • Institute of Political Science
    • Political Science
• Faculty of Mathematics
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics
• Faculty of Medicine
  • School of Medicine
    • Medicine
  • School of Nursing
    • Nursing and Obstretics
  • School of Odontology
    • Odontology
• Faculty of Chemistry
  • Chemistry
  • Chemistry and Pharmacy
• Faculty of Theology
  • Theology

People

Notable professors

• Rafael Benguria, PhD in Physics, Princeton University. John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. 2005 National Prize of Exact Sciences.
• Hector Croxatto, M.D. and biologist, Doctor Scientiae et Honoris Causa, 1979 National Prize of Sciences.
• Vittorio Corbo, PhD in Economics at the MIT, former Governor of the Central Bank of Chile.
• Walter Hanisch, Historian, 1996 National Prize of History.
• Nibaldo Inestrosa, Neurobiologist, 2008 National Prize of Natural Sciences
• Ricardo Krebs, Historian, Doctor Scientiae et Honoris Causa, 1982 National Prize of History.
• Sergio Villalobos, Historian, Chilean National History Award in 1992.
• Paz Yrarrázaval - former director of the Escuela de Teatro.

Notable alumni

• Andrés Allamand, politician, former senator and Minister of National Defense.
• Roberto Angelini, Chairman of Empresas Copec Group
• Vivianne Blanlot, Economist, former Minister of National Defense.
• Ricardo J. Caballero, Macroeconomist. Ford International chair of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002 Frisch Medal.
• Enrique Cueto, CEO of LAN Airlines, Executive Vice-President of LATAM Airlines Group.
• Juan Cuneo, Businessman, CEO of Falabella.
• Juan Emilio Cheyre, retired Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army, Master's degree in Political Science
• Sergio de Castro, Economist, member of the Chicago Boys, minister of Finance (1976-1982), one of the architects of the miracle of Chile.
• Adriana Delpiano, a Chilean politician and former Intendant of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, undergraduate degree in Social Service
• Sebastián Edwards, Economist, Henry Ford II Professor of International Business Economics at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Former Chief Economist for the Latin America and Caribbean Region of the World Bank.
• Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa, Cardinal of the Catholic Church, Former Archbishop of Santiago
• Eduardo Frei Montalva, Lawyer, former Chilean President.
• Laurence Golborne, Civil Engineer, former Mining Minister of Chile during the 2010 Copiapó mining accident and former Minister of Energy.
• Arnoldo Hax, Engineer, Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Management, Emeritus and a Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
• Saint Alberto Hurtado, Jesuit priest, Chile's second Catholic Saint.
• Miguel Kast, former Chilean Labour Minister.
• Mathias Klotz, Architect, Winner of the 2001 Borromini Prize of Architecture.
• Carlos Larraín, politician, President of National Renewal (Chile).
• Felipe Larraín, economist, current Chilean Finance Minister.
• Joaquín Lavín, current Minister of Planning of Chile, undergraduate degree in Business Administration
• Roberto Matta, Painter, a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art.
• Evelyn Matthei, current Minister of Labor, undergraduate degree in Business Administration
• Harold Mayne-Nicholls, journalist, FIFA Executive and former President of the Chilean Football Federation.
• Camila Merino, former Minister of Labor and Social Welfare for Chile, majored in Industrial Civil Engineering
• Alfredo Moreno Charme, Civil Engineer, current Foreign Minister of Chile.
• Carlos Oviedo Cavada, Cardinal of the Catholic Church, Former Archbishop of Santiago.
• Manuel Pellegrini, Civil Engineer, Football manager.
• José Piñera, Economist. The architect of Chile's private pension system based on personal retirement accounts.
• Sebastián Piñera, current president of Chile, undergraduate degree in Economics (1971) and was a professor in the university.
• Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel, economist, Chief Economist of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Director of the OECD Economics Department (2008-2009), Former Principal Economist, Senior Economist, and Economist, The World Bank (1988-1996).
• Hernán de Solminihac, current Minister of Mining and a professor at the university
• Radomiro Tomic, politician, one of the most prominent leaders of Chile's Christian Democrat Party.
• Gabriel Valdés, former Chilean Foreign Minister (1964–1970) and President of Senate of Chile (1990–1996)
• Rodrigo Vergara, economist, current Governor of the Central Bank of Chile
• Raúl Silva Henríquez, Cardinal of the Catholic Church, Former Archbishop of Santiago.
• Andrés Rivas, physician.

Knowledge Transfer, Service & Consultancy

• DICTUC SA (a group of 40+ consultancies leading in Engineering, Management and Innovation) [1]
• Salud Clinica UC [2]
• Hospital of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
• Mega UC Health Centres (maternity)

References

• puc.cl
• Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Indicators (Spanish)

External links

• Official Web Site (Spanish)