The Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE) (English: ''Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador'') is a
Pontifical
A pontifical () 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 Orders. While the ...
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
university founded in 1946 in
Quito
Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...
, Ecuador.
History
The university opened in the fall of 1946, with
Carlos María de la Torre, archbishop of Quito, officiating.
Aurelio Espinosa Pólit of the
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
(Jesuits) was the first rector. That fall there were 54 students and jurisprudence was the single faculty.
In 2005 in Ambato a bust was unveiled to
Zonia Palán Tamayo who had taught economics at the university and was notable in championing women's and union rights.
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
visited the campus of PUCE on his trip to South America in July 2015.
Location
The principal campus of the university is in Quito. Other campuses are in
Ambato (established in 1982),
Esmeraldas (1981),
Ibarra (1976),
Santo Domingo de los Colorados (1996), and a regional campus in the province of
Manabí (1993). The campus in
Cuenca later became the Universidad del Azuay. All branches follow the National System PUCE.
Departments
*Faculty of
Communication
Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...
,
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, and
Literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
*Faculty of Management,
Accounting
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...
,
Administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people.
** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
*Faculty of
Philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
Theology
Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
*Faculty of
Humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
*Faculty of
Natural Sciences
Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...
*Faculty of
Education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
Sciences
*College of
Engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
*School of
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
*School of
Medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
*School of
Nursing
Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...
*School of
Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
*School of
Bioanalysis
Bioanalysis is a sub-discipline of analytical chemistry covering the quantitative measurement of xenobiotics (drugs and their metabolites, and biological molecules in unnatural locations or concentrations) and biotics (macromolecules, proteins, D ...
*School of
Economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
*School of
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
, Design,
Art
Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
*School of
Social Work
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
Faculty of Communication, Linguistics, and Literature (FCLL)
There are four careers that make up the FCLL: Communication,
Literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
,
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, and Applied Languages. In addition, the Languages Center welcomes regular students of the university and is open to the community.
Espinosa Pólit award for Literature at PUCE
Aurelio Espinosa Pólit, the most prestigious awards for writers and authors is the Espinosa Pólit award for Literarute at PUCE which is one of the biggest awards in Ecuador and is given once a year by a voting panel from Catholica University, and is overseen by Vicente Robalino, catedrático de la PUCE, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Taking place every year in Quito at PUCE.
Aurelio Espinosa Pólit was born in Quito on the 11th of July 1894 and is best remembered as one of the best
Ecuadorian
Ecuadorians () are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source o ...
writer's, poet's, literary critic's and a university professor at PUCE. He co-founded the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, and he founded the Aurelio Espinosa Polit Museum and Library in Quito.
Cultural Center
The P.U.C.E.
Cultural Center
A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run.
Africa
* ...
on the campus in Quito and holds numerous exhibits year round with artists from all over the world.
Notable people
Alumni
*
Fabian Alarcon
*
Alvaro Aleman
*
Enrique Ayala Mora
*
Vicente Cabrera Funes
*
Ivan Carvajal
*
Catalina Ontaneda, Minister for Sport.
*
Eugenia del Pino
*
Oswaldo Hurtado Larrea
*
Jamil Mahuad Witt
*
Mauricio Rodas
*
Hernan Rodriguez Castelo
*
Jorge Salvador Lara
*
Karina Subía
*
Julio Cesar Trujillo Vasquez
*
Pedro Velasco
Faculty
*
Ana Estrella Santos
Pope Francis visit in July, 2015
Pope Francis was in Quito for a few days in July 2015. During his visit in Quito, Pope Francis was the campus of P.U.C.E on the afternoon of the 7th of July 2015 and spoke to the university.
and was able to speak to many thousands on different areas.
The visit also went with a tour of the
Historic Centre of Quito.
Gallery
Quito campus
Library
See also
*
List of Jesuit sites
This list includes past and present buildings, facilities and institutions associated with the Society of Jesus. In each country, sites are listed in chronological order of start of Jesuit association.
Nearly all these sites have be ...
References
External links
Official University website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador
Universities and colleges established in 1946
Catholic universities and colleges in Ecuador
1946 establishments in Ecuador