The Pontifical Bolivarian University ( es, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana), also referred to as UPB, is a private university in Colombia with its main campus in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

, where it was founded in 1936. As of June 2022, the UPB holds the top 4 university in Colombia and Top 30 in

LATAM LATAM Airlines Group S.A. is an airline holding company headquartered in Santiago, Chile. It is considered the largest airline company in Latin America with subsidiaries in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru. The company filed for Ch ...

. Currently, the university has campuses in other Colombian cities, such as

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with 6 ...

Montería Montería () is a municipality and city located in northern Colombia and is the capital of the Department of Córdoba. The city is located away from the Caribbean sea, by the Sinú River. The city and region are known for their distinct cultur ...

and Palmira. As of January 2021, the university estimated its nationwide student population at 26,000 The university offers 74 undergraduate programs, 68 master programs and 10 doctorate programs nationwide. The university groups its educational programs under the schools of Architecture And Urbanism, Design, Engineering, Health Sciences, Law and Political Sciences, Strategic Sciences (Management), Social Sciences, Education and Teaching, and Theology, Philosophy and Humanities. The university also operates elementary and high school programs under its educational umbrella. The university has several distinguished alumni such as Former

President of Colombia The president of Colombia ( es, Presidente de Colombia), officially known as the president of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Presidente de la República de Colombia) or president of the nation ( es, Presidente de la Nacion) is the head of stat ...

Belisario Betancur Cuartas Belisario Betancur Cuartas (4 February 1923 – 7 December 2018) was a Colombian politician who served as the 26th President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986. He was a member of the Colombian Conservative Party. His presidency was noted for its at ...

, and Former

First Lady of Colombia The First Lady of Colombia (First Lady of the Nation) is the title held by the hostess of the House of Nariño, usually the wife of the president of Colombia, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has ne ...

Lina María Moreno Mejía. File:Juanes 2008.06.25 006.jpg,

Juanes Juanes at the Zelt Musik Festival 2015 in Germany.html"_;"title="Freiburg,_Germany">Freiburg,_Germany_ file:Juanes_ZMF_2015_jm49211.jpg.html" ;"title="Germany">Freiburg,_ Freiburg,_Germany_">Germany.html"_;"title="Freiburg,_Germany">Freibur ...

the Latin Pop Star is an alumnus of the UPB. File:Belisario Betancur.jpg,

Belisario Betancur Belisario Betancur Cuartas (4 February 1923 – 7 December 2018) was a Colombian politician who served as the 26th President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986. He was a member of the Colombian Conservative Party. His presidency was noted for its at ...

, Expresident of Colombia (1982-1986). File:MariaEmmaMejiaV.jpg,

María Emma Mejía Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

, Politician, and ex-ambassador to the UN (2014-2018). File:Piedad Córdoba (cropped).jpg, Piedad Córdoba, Senator of the

Republic of Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Cari ...

(1994-2010).

History

The university was founded on September 15, 1936, by a decree of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

, Monsignor Tiberio de Jesús Salazar y Herrera as the Universidad Católica Bolivariana (UCB, Catholic Bolivarian University). The UCB started with a small faculty and 78 students enrolled in the School of Law and with Monsignor Manuel José Sierra as its first

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 ...

. In 1945, the university received the title of

Pontifical A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy ...

, from the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

under

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

. With the right to use the title of

, the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

became the Grand Chancellor of the university. From the university's onset, Monsignor Manuel José Sierra wanted to anchor the university on the ideals of Christian humanism and those of the Libertador

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

Academics

The university has programs that extend from elementary and high school to undergraduate and postgraduate programs The UPB 74 undergraduate programs, 68 master programs and 10 doctorate programs nationwide :

Academic and geographical organization

Escuela de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas UPB 4

The university's organization is based on different types of academic units, namely: *

School A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes co ...

: includes one or several faculties or academic programs in the same area of knowledge. *

Faculty Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division) A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject ...

: offers one or several curricula of professional formation. *

Program Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Programm ...

: academic plan that provides either basic, professional, complementary or higher education. *

Institute An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

: academic unit that advances knowledge in an area through academic services, academic extension and/or research. * Center: provides academic services within or outside the university. The university is made up of 8 Schools (main campus), 19 centers, foundations and institutes (

) and in its satellite campuses, 13 centers, foundations and institutes. The university offers 42 undergraduate programs and 156 graduate programs: 11

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' l ...

programs, 48 master programs and 97 specializations.

Research

As of 2021, the university had 315 docent researchers working within 91 research groups across

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

. which were coordinated by the Integrated Center for the Development of Research (CIDI from its initials in Spanish). The CIDI seeks to maintain a close and dynamic relationship between industry and academia through technology transfer and consulting services. The research groups are based in different campuses with the majority of them in Medellin. The research groups concentrate their efforts in the areas of Health Sciences, Social Sciences and Engineering.

Campuses

Main campus

The main campus is located in

and houses the main chapel, student health services, the main library and the schools of Engineering, Social Sciences, Architecture, and Languages as well as schools for primary and secondary education.

Bucaramanga

The

campus opened on July 12, 1991, in the Archdiocesan Seminary. In 1998, UPB established its own home on the

Piedecuesta Piedecuesta (, officially ''Villa de San Carlos del Pie de la Cuesta'') is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia, South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and ...

Highway, 7 kilometers away from the city. The estimated UPB Bucaramanga student population in 2013 was 5,800 students. The UPB Bucaramanga campus houses the following schools:

Strategic Sciences' School

Business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

International business International business refers to the trade of goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale. It involves cross-border transactions of goods and services between two or mor ...

management

Social Sciences' School

Social communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

Psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

Law and Political Science's School

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Engineering's School

Electronic engineering Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current ...

Computer engineering Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers n ...

Industrial engineering Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information an ...

Mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

Civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

Environmental engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline that encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and ...

Montería

Jesus and the doctors of the Faith dsc01783

The university opened its campus in

on May 25, 1995. The campus established the university's presence in Colombia's Atlantic region with academic programs in law, management, journalism, engineering, informatics, electronics, mechanical, agroindustrial, environmental management and several graduate programs. The campus is estimated to have 2,028 students.

Palmira

The university established its presence in the coffee region of the country through its Palmira campus. The university opened the campus in 2001 with programs such as Psychology, Marketing, Human Resources, Management, and Economics. The university currently has 218 students and it is the newest campus of the university in

Affiliations

UPB is member of different international associations and programs. It is also a chair of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

on ''

Human Development Human development may refer to: * Development of the human body * Developmental psychology * Human development (economics) * Human Development Index, an index used to rank countries by level of human development * Human evolution Human evoluti ...

'' and a member of the ''Foundation for Studies in France''. It belongs also to the '' Sígueme Program'' a group that gathered 10 Colombian universities. UPB has agreements with universities in Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, United States, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela.

Libraries

UPB has a complete system of documentation and

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

, with the central library residing in a dedicated four-story building. Every school at UPB has its own library interconnected with the Central one.

Gallery

File:Plaza de los Fundadores UPB.jpg, Founders' Plaza File:Biblioteca Central UPB.jpg, Central Library File:Templo Universitario UPB.jpg, The church at the main entrance to the Mdellin Campus on 70th Avenue

References

* Así nos habló: Visita Apostólica de S.S. Juan Pablo II a

, Julio 1 a 7 de 1986, Comité Ejecutivo Nacional, Secretariado Permanente del Episcopado Colombiano,

, 1986. (''He spoke to us like this: Apostolic Visit of Pope John Paul II to Colombia'')

External links

*
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana - Guía de Carreras Universitarias
(Spanish)
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana en Guía de Universidades
(Spanish) {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1936 Bolivariana Universities and colleges in Colombia Catholic universities and colleges in Colombia Universities and colleges in Medellín 1936 establishments in Colombia