Alejandro Gaviria Uribe becomes president of the Universidad de los Andes

The new president graduated in civil engineering from the School of Engineering in Antioquia, has a master’s degree in economics from the Universidad de los Andes, and a PhD in economics from the University of California in San Diego. He has been elected for an initial four-year period.

Eduardo Pacheco, president of the university’s Board of Governors, attended the oath signing ceremony.

Gaviria Uribe is an associate professor at Los Andes and was previously the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development Objectives for Latin America. He was also dean of the Faculty of Economics for six-years.

During his extensive career as a researcher, professor, and public official, he was appointed Minister of Health and Social Protection between 2012 and 2018 and subdirector of the National Planning Departmentand Fedesarrollo.

He has worked as a researcher for the Inter-American Development Bank, the National Federation of Coffee Growers, and as a consultant for the World Bank. He has also taught at universities including Los Andes, Rosario, Javeriana, Nacional de Colombia, and California, San Diego.

In 2005, he received the Juan Luis Londoño Medal. In 2009, he was awarded the Simón Bolívar prize for journalism for the best opinion column, and, in 2010, the newspaper Portafolio declared him the best professor of economics and business administration in the country. Last year he was awarded the Orden de Boyacá, which is the highest decoration that the Colombian government awards to distinguished citizens for services to the country.

Some of his most outstanding publications include the book he wrote for the Inter-American Bank: Assault on development: violence in Latin America, co-authored with Juan Luis Londoño and Rodrigo Guerrero; Who goes up and down: education and social mobility in Colombia; and Who’s In and Who’s Out: Social Exclusion in Latin America with Jere R. Behrman and Miguel Szekely (editors). His most recent books are: At least we have the wordsand Today is still forever.