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University of Chile

University of Chile

Universidad de Chile
Type	Public
Established	November 19, 1842 (181)
Budget	CLP$ 366 055 226
President	Prof. Víctor Pérez Vera
Vice-president	Prof. Patricio Aceituno Gutiérrez (academic affairs)
Provost	Prof. Rosa Devés Alessandri
Academic staff	3 217
Administrative staff	4 149
Students	31 281
Undergraduates	25 181
Postgraduates	6 100
Location	Santiago , Chile 33°26′39″S 70°39′3″W
Campus	Casa Central (Headquarters) (Santiago) North (Independencia) South (La Pintana) Beauchef (Santiago) Juan Gómez Millas (Ñuñoa) Andrés Bello (Providencia-Santiago)
Patron	President of Chile
Colors	Blue
Affiliations	IFPU, APRU, Chilean Traditional Universities
Mascot	Owl
Website	www.uchile.cl

The University of Chile (officially in Spanish: Universidad de Chile), is the first republican university in Chile. It was established by the Chilean state on November 19, 1842, as the replacement and continuation of the former colonial Royal University of San Felipe, founded in 1738. Owning a rich history, it has played a very significant role in the development of the national culture, from its creation until today. From the University Reform in 1968 and the regionalization process in 1981, it is part of the sixteen universities that constitute the Consortium of Chile's State Universities, and is a member of the Rector's Counsil. Its main house is located in Santiago, and is often known as La casa de Bello (Bello's house), in honor to its first president, the prominent Chilean Venezuelan humanist Andrés Bello.

It has more than 31 000 students are distributed in five campuses across Santiago. It is often considered as a complex university, because it counts on academic studies in all areas of knowledge, being the main scientic research center in the country, concentrating the 38% of scientific publications in Chile. The world university ranking developed by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University recognizes it as one of the best universities in Latin America and is considered as the best one in the country. Other ranking, developed by the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, situates the University of Chile in the first place nationwide.

History

The Chilean Venezuelan humanist Andrés Bello was the first president of the University of Chile

Creation and first years

The creation of the University of Chile, because of a purely sequential matter, is often considered as a sort of continuation of the Royal University of San Felipe (officially in Spanish: Real Universidad de San Felipe), which operated between 1747 and 1839. This university represented the essence of the scholastic methodology, even though recent Bourbon monarchies had a modernizing project, in which they aimed at reducing the power of the Church's influence, particularly in educational matters.

The idea of creating a new institution of higher education in Chile is born at the same time with the illustration brought by the political independence of the country. To this end the Instituto Nacional (National Institute) is created, in order to develop the areas of knowledge postponed by the strict academic structure of the Royal University of San Felipe, which was focused on educating theologians, philosophers and jurists; whose courses were taught in Latin. Thus, this last institution loses constantly its faculties in aid of the Institute, eventually getting to an academic immobility around the 1830s. During the government of the president Manuel Bulnes, a new decision was made: to replace and suppress the crestfallen colonial institution with a new organism in order to serve the new republic. The main driving person of this determination was Andrés Bello, who was chosen by the government to be the first president of the new university.

In 1840, Manuel Montt became "Minister of Education" (this charge was formerly known as Ministro de Instrucción: Minister of Instruction) and asked Andrés Bello to draft the law that gave birth to the University of Chile. On November 19, 1842, the new institution is founded legally through an organic law. Therefore, it would inherit all properties belonging to the University of San Felipe, and then becoming for all purposes, its legal continuer.

Frontis of the headquarters of the University of Chile.

On September 17, 1843, with a very solemn and significant ceremony, the University of Chile was officially established as a national academic and professional university; though during the first decades of its existance, it worked mostly as a superintendence of education, controlling the quality of formation given by Chilean institutions, because even courses itself were taught in the National Institute. There were five original faculties: Humanities and Philosophy; Physical and Mathematical Sciences; Law and Political Sciences; Medicine and finally Theology. This last one was deleted in 1927 along with the process of separation between the State and the Catholic Church, including the secularization of the government organisms.

Even though the university didn't carry out formal education itself, this wasn't an obstacle for the cloister, the faculties or the university to start developing an intensive academic, cultural and scientific labor with different institutions, including the Smithsonian Institution and Harvard University.

In 1843 the Annals of the University of Chile are released, being then the oldest periodic publication ever written in Spanish in the Americas. It became one of the most important scientific magazines in the continent, so much so that the prominent geographer Alexander von Humboldt recommended to read it in his work "Cosmos".

Big changes and Military Regime

Between 1926 and 1933 big changes occur in the University. With the objective of aiming it exclusively at academic formation, research and scientific and intelectual development, the duties of suepervising secondary education were transferred to the brand-new Ministry of Public Education. These new statutes were decreed on May 20, 1931.

With the stability given by this new way of organization, two major rectorships appear on the scene: the one of Juvenal Hernández and Juan Gómez Millas. During their governments the university starts growing and expanding along the country by creating "Regional University Colleges". Besides that, the Symphony Orchestra, the University Choir, the Chilean National Ballet, the Experimental Theater, the Contemporary Art Museum and finally the American Popular Art Museum are founded.

During Augusto Pinochet's military regime from 1973 to 1989, the University suffered many profound changes. On 2 October 1973, Decree number 50 stated that the University's Presidents would be designated by the Military Regime.

The second major blow to the University's integrity came on 3 January 1981, when another Decree completely restructured the University. All of its provincial campuses were separated, cojoined with provincial campuses of the Universidad Técnica del Estado (State Technical University). This is how regional campuses transformed.

• The University of Chile in Arica becomes the current University of Tarapacá
• The University of Chile in Iquique becomes the current Arturo Prat University
• The University of Chile in Antofagasta becomes the current University of Antofagasta
• The University of Chile in La Serena becomes the current University of La Serena
• The University of Chile in Valparaíso becomes the current University of Valparaíso
• The Pedagogical Institute of the University of Chile in Valparaíso becomes the Higher Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, which is now the Playa Ancha University of Educational Sciences.
• The Polytechnic Institute becomes the current Metropolitan University of Technology
• The Pedagogical Institute of the University of Chile in Santiago becomes the Higher Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, which is now the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences.
• The University of Chile in Talca becomes the current University of Talca
• The University of Chile in the Ñuble Province becomes the current University of Bío-Bío
• The University of Chile in Temuco becomes the current University of La Frontera
• The University of Chile in Osorno becomes the current University of Los Lagos

These changes were orchestrated by influential advisors to the military government as a way to severely diminish the University's influence on the nation's politics, economics, public policies and intellectual movements. Simultaneous to this process, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile was heavily supported so that it would grow to a size comparable to the University of Chile. In concrete terms, in 1973 the University of Chile had a record number of students enrolled: over 65,000 students. Today it has only 26,000 students. In contrast, the Catholic University of Chile has grown from approximately 15,000 students in 1973 to over 21,650. Several private universities were created towards the end of the military regime, and some of these institutions have shown tendencies towards neoliberal economics. In this way the "Chicago Boys" have been able to perpetuate their influences on Chilean economics and public policies through higher education.

In spite of the complete restructuring of the University of Chile, it still remains as Chile's most prestigious university in terms of research, applicant preferences and social impact.