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Contact: Joe Cecchi, 277-5522 |
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Feb. 5, 2003 PROFESSOR MANUEL HERMENEGILDO SELECTED FOR PRINCE OF ASTURIAS ENDOWED
CHAIR AT UNM Spanish electric utility Iberdrola announced today at a press conference
in Madrid, Spain that Professor Manuel Hermenegildo of the Universidad
Politecnica de Madrid has been selected to fill the Prince of Asturias
Endowed Chair in Information Science and Technology at the University
of New Mexico. The establishment of the chair was first announced during the October
2000 visit to UNM of HRH Prince of Asturias, Don Felipe de Borbón
y Grecia, and Iñigo de Oriol, then President of Iberdrola. The
Prince of Asturias is the title of the heir to the Spanish throne. The chair is the brainchild of former U.S. Ambassador to Spain Edward
Romero. Once Ambassador Romero received approval from the Royal Household
for the chair, he approached Iberdrola about funding the endowment with
a $1.5 million gift to the UNM Foundation. There are two other endowed chairs in the United States named for the
Prince of Asturias. One is at Tufts University, and the other is at Georgetown
University, the Prince’s alma mater. UNM and Iberdrola hope to strengthen institutional links and scientific
collaboration between the United States and Spain through the Prince of
Asturias Endowed Chair, to the benefit of both countries. Hermenegildo will begin his duties at UNM in fall 2003 in the Departments
of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering. “UNM is fortunate that Ambassador Romero had the vision and skills
to make his idea a reality,” said Joseph Cecchi, dean of the School
of Engineering. “With the Chair’s international dimension, this
is truly an exceptional opportunity for UNM to take an important role
in the continued development of the U.S.-Spain bilateral relationship
in science and technology.” “The first day I arrived in Spain to assume my duties as U.S. Ambassador,
I presented a list of goals and priorities to the support staff at the
Embassy,” said Romero. “This endowed chair was high on my list,
because I saw it then—as I see it now—as a means of reinvigorating
the 400 year-old relationship between Spain and New Mexico in a way that
looks to the future. “What better way than to focus it on the dynamic field of information science and technology. I am truly delighted that Professor Hermenegildo will join the UNM faculty next fall. All New Mexicans owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the Prince of Asturias and Iberdrola for making this extraordinary chair possible.” ### |
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