Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí

Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi (UASLP)

Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi (UASLP)
Motto	Siempre Autónoma por Mi Patria Educaré
Motto in English	"Always autonomous, for my fatherland's sake, I shall teach."
Type	Public university
Established	1923
President	Manuel Fermín Villar Rubio
Students	18,133 (2000)
Undergraduates	17,221 (2000)
Postgraduates	912 (2000)
Location	San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Colors	Blue and yellow
Affiliations	ANUIES, CUMEX, CONAHEC
Website	www.uaslp.mx

The Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí (in Spanish: Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, UASLP) is a public university in Mexico. It is the largest, oldest and more comprehensive university in the state of San Luis Potosí, and one of the most important ones in Mexico. Among other historic milestones, in 1923 UASLP was the first university in Mexico to have autonomy constitutionally granted.^[1]

History

The oldest antecedent of UASLP is a Jesuit college founded in 1624 in the city of San Luis Potosí to teach literacy, secondary and high school studies. In 1825 governor Ildefonso Díaz de León was directly involved in the creation of the Colegio Guadalupano Josefino. Opening on 2 June 1826, the college initially included academic programs in Humanities, Philosophy, Theology and Law. A Medicine program was added six years later. The first rector was Manuel María de Gorriño y Arduengo. Unfortunately, teachers were not always available and due to political and civil unrest there were times, especially in the 19th century, the college had to suspend classes on a temporary basis. Also, in 1855 the Medicine program was closed.kml

During the Mexican Revolution, when some properties of the Roman Catholic Church were seized, the main college buildings (including the library and the astronomical observatory) were confiscated from the Church. However, the college continued working although only the Instituto Científico y Literario was able to grant degrees.

On 10 January 1923, governor Rafael Nieto issued Decree No. 106, which established the University of San Luis Potosí. The academic structure of the new institution included the faculties of Medicine, Law, Chemistry and Business. It also included the Civil Hospital, the San Luis Potosí Public Library, the State Meteorological Observatory, and the normal school for training teachers. The 1923 Decree granted autonomy to the University.

More recently, in 1949, the Decree Number 53, under Article 100 the Political Constitution of the State of San Luis Potosí, changed the name of the institution into its current one of Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí.

Organization

UASLP is organized in faculties (schools that offer postgraduate education) , schools, coordinations, academic units and departments; it is divided into 15 faculties, 1 schools, 4 coordinations, 1 departments, 7 institutes, 12 research institutes and 2 academic units for different and specific areas. Both undergraduate and graduate studies are available on each faculty. To date, UASLP has a student population of more than 32,000 people, and offers 99 undergraduate programs and 88 postgraduate programs.^[2]

Notable alumni

• Ponciano Arriaga (1811–1863), lawyer and Constitutional Congressman.
• Manuel José Othón (1858–1906), poet
• Primo Feliciano Velázquez, historian
• Luis Ernesto Derbez (1947-), Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Affairs 2003-2006
• Dos Caras, Jr. (1977-), professional wrestler otherwise known as Alberto Del Rio and nephew of Mil Mascaras.

Notable staff

• Salvador Nava Martínez (1914-1992), physician, politician and activist, professor in the School of Medicine
• Valentin Afraimovich (1945-2018), russian and mexican mathematician that made contributions to dynamical systems theory

References

External links

• Official website of the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi

Coordinates: 22°09′10″N 100°58′41″W / 22.1528°N 100.978°W / 22.1528; -100.978