UNM President Louis Caldera, Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Asturias, talk on their way to a series of discussions with university faculty and administrators about the ongoing development and the future direction of the endowed chair in information science and technology bearing his name. The chair is funded by a contribution from Iberdrola, a privately held electrical utility headquartered in Spain, in honor of the heir to the Spanish throne.
“Thanks to the vision of men like His Royal Highness and Sr. Oriol e Ybarra, President of Iberdrola, UNM has become one of the leading universities in the western hemisphere in its commitment to advancing the state of information science and technology throughout the Americas,” said University president Louis Caldera.
The $1.5 million endowment allows UNM to fund a computer science professor from Spain, three graduate assistantships and three undergraduate international Amigo Scholarships. The graduate assistantships provide tuition scholarships and stipends for Spanish students. The research must be done in the general area of information science and technology. Iberdrola has an ongoing interest in software quality and verification, optimization, improved process control and reliability where there are significant overlaps with the current research activities of the chair.
Professor Manuel Hermenegildo currently holds the chair in the departments of computer science and electrical and computer engineering in the School of Engineering. Hermenegildo says, “The chair has allowed us to establish an exciting program of research in software development technology. We plan to establish additional bilateral agreements between UNM and Spanish universities and to foster additional forms of collaboration.”
Hermenegildo says the research program has already produced significant scientific results and publications and there have been several exchanges of students between Spain and UNM.
The discussion included a presentation of current chair activities and plans, and possible new initiatives for the future.
In a formal ceremony, the University Medal was presented to Iñigo de Oriol e Ybarra, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of Iberdrola. He was recognized for his service to the University of New Mexico in organizing the endowment for the chair. “We are honored to have this level of interest in research at UNM from this international company,” said Terry Yates, Vice President for Research. “The vision of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Asturias, and Iñigo de Oriol e Ybarra is leading the way for the university in this important area of research and is helping us realize the many opportunities between Spain and New Mexico in science and education.”
Oriol holds a law degree from the Universidad Central de Madrid and played an important part in Spain’s peaceful shift from the Franco dictatorship to a parliamentary monarchy. He has a long history of civic involvement, most notably in the Consejo del Reino (Council of the Kingdom), which played an important part in recent Spanish political history. He became president of the Madrid Chamber of Industry in 1968 and negotiated a merger with the Madrid Chamber of Commerce. The combined organization reached out to Europe and Latin American, emphasizing the collective interests of the entire citizenry. He was unanimously elected president of the Management Corporation of Extremadura when it was founded in 1992 and continues to hold the position. MCE promotes economic development in this less prosperous region of Spain.
Oriol has worked in the electric utility industry since 1959, helping to lead Hidroeléctrica Española as it adapted to the European Economic Community, then through a merger with Iberduero, forming one of the most important business fusions in Europe. He became chairman of Iberdrola and began an expansion phase, buying electric utilities in Boliva, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico and Uruguay.
Oriol has a liberal vision of an open democratic Spain that reaches out into the world. That vision led him to take the bold step of endowing a chair at a faraway university, looking for its potential to yield long-term benefits to the people of Spain and the United States.
For more on the Royal visit see: Prince and Princess of Asturias
Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1989