Rafael Rangel Sostmann (; born 14 August 1941) is a Mexican engineer and academic who served as

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

Monterrey Institute of Technology Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) ( en, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education), also known as Tecnológico de Monterrey or just Tec, is a secular and Mixed-sex education, coeducational private ...

(ITESM) from 1985 to 2011. He is a recipient of several honorary degrees, awarded, among others, by

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

(2008), the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

(2003),

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

(2004) and the

Thunderbird School of Global Management Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University (or simply Thunderbird) is a global management school in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1946 as an independent, private institution, it was acquired by Arizona State University ( ...

(2009); serves in the board of the

World Bank Institute The World Bank Institute is the capacity building branch of the World Bank. It provides learning programs, policy advice and technical assistance to policy makers, government and non-government agencies, and development practitioners of developing c ...

and

Cemex CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., known as Cemex, is a Mexican multinational building materials company headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, Mexico. It manufactures and distributes cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in more than 50 countries. ...

; and he is a member of the Global Agenda Council on Education Systems at the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. He announced his retirement as rector of the ITESM on June 21, 2010. On September 12, 2011, Salvador Alva Gómez was announced as the next

of the

(ITESM).

Biography

Rangel was born in

Parral, Chihuahua Hidalgo del Parral is a city and seat of the municipality of Hidalgo del Parral in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is located in the southern part of the state, from the state capital, the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua. As of 2015, the city ...

, into a family formed by Rafael Rangel Romo, a mining engineer from

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes (; ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Aguascalientes), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and ...

and co-proprietor of (a flour mill) and Josefina Sostmann, he has a sister Josefina Rangel Sostman who is a painter. He undertook his secondary and preparatory studies in Parral at ''Instituto Regional'', a school managed by the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

, and later moved to

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

to enroll at the Monterrey Institute of Technology. At Tech he imposed a national record in the 400 meters dash at the age of 22 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in 1965. After his graduation he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where he completed a master's degree in mechanical engineering at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in 1966 and worked for two years as a development engineer for

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

, in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, before returning to Mexico and rejoining his alma mater in 1968 as an assistant professor. In Mexico, he lectured on

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

, machine instrumentation, and trained staff for the local industry before marrying Margaret “Peggy” Marshall, daughter of Dr. W. Robert Marshall, Jr., dean of engineering of UW–Madison, on 25 January 1969. He went back to UW–Madison to complete his doctorate degree, which was awarded in 1973. Back in Mexico, he rejoined the Tech as an associate director of the recently created Querétaro campus. Two years later, in 1975, he was appointed director and served in the post until 1979, when he was promoted to vice-rector for the central region, in charge of seven campuses. After the resignation of Fernando García Roel in 1984, he was appointed rector of the institute, at the age of 43. After 26 years as rector, on 21 June 2010, he announced his retirement.

Biography

References

See also