Los Andes and the University of Miami sign a partnership agreement

The Universidad de los Andes and the University of Miami signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). This allows a hemispheric university consortium to be created in which a limited number of universities from the Americas will participate. The purpose of this is to have a collaboration agreement that will lead to both universities developing education and research exchange projects.

Julio Frenk, vice-chancellor of the University of Miami explains that, “there is a lot of talent in Colombia and I believe that we can create something that is mutually beneficial for Colombian universities as well as those in other Latin American countries. This is a partnership between equals, and for this reason we a looking for the most distinguished universities such as the Universidad de los Andes and others in Latin America.”

The signing ceremony, which was led by vice-chancellors Julio Frenk and Pablo Navas, was attended by special guests including María de Lourdes Dieck Assad who is the vice-president of Hemispheric and Global Relations at the University of Miami, members of the Board of Governors, and the Uniandes Academic Council.

After signing the agreement, the parties began a discussion to explore the parameters and feasibility of the following collaborative efforts:

1. A method through which the University of Miami can help, consult, and/ or collaborate with initiatives relating to education, training, and research clinics.
2. A method through which the parties can facilitate and encourage the exchange of their respective professors and students.
3. A method through which the parties can co-sponsor research projects and seek financing for them.

The University of Miami is dedicated to education, training, and research, and, as such, has expressed its desire to explore future collaborative efforts with the Universidad de los Andes.

About the vice-chancellor of the University of Miami – Julio Frenk

He graduated as a doctor from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He was awarded a Master’s degree in Public Health and a joint doctorate in organization of medical care and sociology from the University of Michigan. He has received honorary doctorates from seven institutions.

Since August 2015, Julio Frenk has been the vice-chancellor of the University of Miami. This university has also named him as full professor of Public Health Sciences in the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine and as professor in the Department of Management and Healthcare Public Policies in the School of Business Administration.

Before holding his current position, he was appointed for seven years as dean of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at the University of Harvard, and he was a T&G Angelopoulos full professor in the fields of Public Health and International Development: an appointment made in conjunction with the Kennedy School of Government at the University of Harvard.

He was also Mexican Minister of Health between 2000 and 2006. He was the founding director general of the National Public Health Institute in Mexico. The executive positions he has held include: executive director in charge of Evidence and Information at the World Health Organization (WHO), and he also worked as a senior fellow in the Global Health Program that is part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

His academic work, which includes more than 160 articles in scientific and professional journals as well as several books and book chapters, has been cited more than 15,000 times. He has also written three best-selling novels for children that explain how the human body works.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, and the Mexican National Academy of Medicine. He is on executive boards at the United Nations Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He has received numerous recognitions, those that stand out include the Clinton Global Citizen Award for changing the way in which healthcare professionals and public policy makers from around the world understand health, the Bouchet Leadership Award Medal from Yale University that recognizes promoting diversity postgraduate education, and the Welch-Rose Award for Distinguished Service awarded by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health.

About María de Lourdes Dieck Assad

She is Inaugural Vice-President for Hemispheric and Global Affairs at the University of Miami, Florida, U.S.A. She was nominated to direct hemispheric and global initiates in all the schools and faculties in the university to turn it into the hemispheric university and a hub for the Americas.

Dieck has been an academic leader in macroeconomics in the EGADE Business School in Monterrey Institute of Technology where she was dean of the school from 2011 to 2016 when she was named dean emeritus.

She has also been Mexican ambassador to Belgium and Luxemburg, head of the Mexican mission to the European Union, and permanent representative to the European Council (2004-2007). She was awarded a Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown for her distinguished diplomatic service, which was authorized by Royal Decree.

She has also been an economic consultant for several international institutions including the World Bank in Washington D.C. from 1985 to 1987.