The contributions of the University of Piura to the development of Peru. A reflection at the doors of the 50 years of the University of Piura

 
Hon. Vice Grand Chancellor, Mr. Rector, Mr. Governor and worthy authorities, illustrious academic Faculty; Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am very grateful for the courtesy of having entrusted me with the Inaugural lesson at this opening of the 49th Academic Year of our house of studies, at the gates of the Golden Anniversary.

In this context, I propose to reflect on the contributions of the University to society throughout those years. I apologize for the inevitable omissions.

 

I. Reasons for gratitude

The University of Piura is today a splendid reality. I am excited to remember what I found when I arrived in Piura in 1974, just 5 years after its beginning: an unfinished building, very simple, absolutely sober, clean and well maintained in the middle of an immense sandy area on the outskirts of Piura. I remember some large, blue-headed lizards that, for some reason, went from the sand to the floor, unable to move forward because they slipped on the waxed tiles, when they tried to flee when someone approached. That sandy area is now a forest that is home to remarkably diverse wildlife and, above all, is the setting for an intense university life of more than 400 professors and some 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 6 faculties.

This transformation of the campus (which at the beginning some called deserticus university) is a symbol of the evolution of the University: it has grown, matured and trained thousands of professionals who contribute to the improvement of Piura and Peruvian society. It has become a true university with a vocation and capacity to serve the country and the world.

Since 1979, the University has promoted regular activities in Lima, with the School of Management- PAD, which offers numerous programs aimed at the business world, including the classic MBA, and a doctorate in Organizational Governance. And, 2003 began what we call Lima Campus, where more than 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students study.

All of this is reason for gratitude: firstly, to our Founder, Saint Josemaría Escrivá, and to those who supported his desire to make the request of the then archbishop of Piura, Mons. Erasmo Hinojosa, come true. Gratitude to the promoters, who worked from the Association for the Development of University Education, ADEU, in the design of the project, in its approval (June 12 will mark 50 years of the Law) and in its implementation in Piura. Gratitude to those who donated the land for this campus; and many essential benefactors in those beginnings.

I have a personal memory. In 1974, I was able to greet Saint Josemaría in Rome, days before traveling to Peru. He spoke to me with emotion about the hard work – heroic, he even said – of “the first” in Piura. When I joined the University, I saw the dedication of the promoters and the first workers: back then they had to do everything and the means were lacking, but there was an extraordinary atmosphere of joy, which the students shared. They didn't think they were participating in something heroic, but they did.

Our special gratitude to those pioneers. And also to many people and institutions that helped financially and in other ways, for example by managing International Cooperation projects. A true avalanche of generosity, which allowed the University to move forward in very difficult years for Peru and Piura in particular.

Several protagonists of those first steps are no longer on earth, such as the first rector, Eng. Ricardo Rey, who with 8 other teachers and some administrators settled in Piura with their families, leaving their work, their family and friends. Likewise, eminent professors from the University of Navarra and others, mainly from Spain and Italy, who accompanied us in various ways and visited us seasonally: doctors Vicente Rodríguez Casado, Leonardo Polo, Juan Antonio Pérez López, Umberto Farri and many more, who were passing the baton to others. It pains me not to mention many but the risk of unfair omissions prevents me from doing so.

A special mention to the workers, cleaning, gardening and security staff, who with their silent and generous work have contributed to consolidating our hallmark. This humble work contributes to fulfilling the purpose of the UDEP: that cleanliness and good taste also educate. Those words of the Founder come in handy: “Have you seen how they built that building of imposing grandeur? – One brick and another. Thousands. But one by one. –And bags of cement, one by one. And ashlars, which mean little, compared to the mass of the whole. – And pieces of iron. –And workers who work, day after day, the same hours… Did you see how they raised that building of imposing grandeur? By dint of small things!

 

II. An authentic university

Then and now, with the encouragement of our Founder and his successors, we have had a clear vision: be a true university, informed by the spirit of service to society, and by the desire to transmit to the intelligences and hearts of our students, together with the knowledge and knowledge of their professional training, human values, as well as the light and warmth of Christian faith necessary to help build a more just and dignified society, with opportunities for all.

In coherence with this, humanistic training has been and will always be an essential component in the study plans of all careers. Without it, professional preparation would not be genuine university training nor would we fully achieve the ideal of training “better people, better professionals.”

Nor would it be possible to understand man, his motivations and needs, and succeed in responding to them. But not only the training on the intellectual level, provided by the human sciences (history, philosophy, literature...) and the arts, but also with the experience provided by “University life” outside the classrooms and in various initiatives. , especially those of social volunteering.

In relation to the importance of the humanities for the education of the university student, Drew Faust, president of Harvard University, comments the following: We must ensure that our graduates are adequately prepared to “observe, compare and decide.” The humanities play a critical role in this goal. Understanding is derived from what is measurable and what is not, and is strengthened by scientific discoveries and mathematical proofs, by philosophical puzzles, and by literature and art that transform the heart and mind. . University education must encompass all these elements if it seeks to train not simply employees or employers, but human beings who can help create a better future, for themselves and for the entire world. I complement Dr. Faust's approach with a recent reflection by the rector of the University of Salamanca, Dr. Ricardo Rivera: The humanistic tradition represents a fundamental value when facing the tasks imposed by the coming world of work, which is increasingly mechanized every day. ”. At the University of Piura, the humanities have been, are and will be, an essential component in the training of our students in all faculties.

These first 49 years have been about learning; as those to come will be, because we have to always aspire to more: to be a world-class university, as the Grand Chancellor Mons. Javier Echevarría asked us in 2010. We must put the best of ourselves into this objective and find valuable help from colleagues from other universities, to add efforts aimed at the internationalization of our academic work.

To this end, the University prioritizes the best doctoral and postdoctoral training of its professors, in prestigious universities around the world, which also generates fruitful relationships between colleagues. Currently, we are among the two Peruvian universities with the largest number of doctors on our teaching staff. And, we are glad that some professors have completed or are pursuing doctorates at Oxford, New York University, University of Navarra, Duke University, Virginia Tech, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Politécnico de Milan, La Sapieza de Roma, Vancouver School of Economics, Middlesex University, Texas el Paso, to name just a few.

 

III. Beneficial influence of UDEP on society

A University must also influence its environment: in our case Piura, Peru, and why not, the entire world. That is, committing to the needs and problems of society, which will often be input for research and inspiration for teaching and volunteering. To do so effectively, the University cannot be a center of conflict and political calculation. Its goal is not the search for political power, nor the imposition of one ideology over another; Its purpose, its essence, is the rigorous search for knowledge. The merit of the professor and the university student must be based on their ability to discover and transmit this knowledge and not on the alliances or political favors that they may accumulate.

I collect some words from our Founder at the University of Navarra in October 1974: The university does not turn its back on any uncertainty, any concern, or any need of men. It is not your mission to offer immediate solutions. But, by studying problems with scientific depth, it also stirs hearts, spurs passivity, awakens dormant forces, and forms citizens willing to build a more just society. Thus, it contributes with its universal work to removing barriers that hinder the mutual understanding of men, to removing fear in the face of an uncertain future, to promoting—with the love of truth, justice and freedom—true peace and concord. of spirits and nations.

Peru suffers from acute problems. The main one perhaps is corruption and lack of honesty in vast areas of public and private affairs, evils that can only be combated with the formation of upright people and the strengthening of the family.

And in our region, where the University began its journey 49 years ago, we see so many needs. However, there are reasons for hope and reasons to continue working to build a better region and country, with safer cities and happier citizens. It sounds utopian, but no, it has to be our aspiration and motivation. Perhaps it is an encouragement to take a look at what UDEP has done in those 49 years.

When the University started, Piura was a pleasant and beautiful city, although not exempt from peripheries with deficiencies and precariousness. It has grown a lot, but with disorder, aggravating these deficiencies, inappropriate for a modern city.

I remember the joke that a friend from Piura made to the two rectors (of UNP and UDEP) 16 or 17 years ago. He told us: “The universities are to blame for Piura's problems. Since they arrived we have been getting worse.” And, when these were born, in the 60s, the Agrarian Reform was experienced; Then the economic crisis and hyperinflation worsened, terrorism with its consequences of poverty and disorderly migration, etc. Hard times for Piura and all of Peru, for which our joker friend blamed us.

Thank God, that's part of the distant past. Without a doubt, the University of Piura, along with many other institutions, has contributed to overcoming these crises and feels honored by it, and eager to continue contributing. The efforts to work well, with enthusiasm and dedication for almost half a century in Piura, as well as the 40 years of the PAD and the 15 years at Campus Lima, have not been useless.

 

IV. Some examples

When I began to prepare this inaugural Lecture, I thought about talking about the influence of the University, turning to the figures of economic growth, competitiveness, employment, etc. But I gave up, because I don't see a way to specify what part of the increases corresponds to each of the actors. Furthermore, although important, the influence of a university is not limited to economic activity, but is manifested, above all, in cultural life, in the morality of customs, in lives transformed by knowledge: touched by the truth. and for friendship; In short: in the happiness of people.

 

a) Direct support for environmental needs

I have chosen some examples, almost anecdotal of support for the environment, but that reflect more.

Already in the 2017 Report that we have heard, the work of more than many volunteer students and teachers, several specialists in processes, logistics and distribution chains, has been mentioned, as the University's immediate response to the El Niño Costero emergency.

This is not something isolated, but from the beginning the University has promoted actions to directly support the needs of the environment. I remember that this fact has frequently caused admiration among teachers and various people who visited us.

I ask you to accompany me to the month of October 1987 to relive an episode that shows, on the one hand, a critical situation that Piura experienced and, on the other, the desire of the University to serve the community.

The thermal power plant that supplied electricity to Piura did not even remotely cover the demand. The restrictions were greater every day, due to the increase in demand and the deterioration of generation equipment. Just one of them, a turbine of almost 20 MW, the so-called “turbogás”, came to be more than 75 percent of all that insufficient supply.

And what could happen happened: a key piece of Turbogás failed and Piura was left practically in the dark. Getting the original replacement was going to take months. Fortunately, it could be rebuilt in the University's Mechanical Technology Laboratory, where there were good machine tools, and, above all, engineers and technicians who took charge. It took three days and nights with barely any sleep until we achieved the goal and felt the joy of having been able to do such a necessary service.

Even so, there were several more years with enormous energy deficiencies. With a good sense of humor, Professor Rafael Estartús used to say that we had “lights” and not blackouts, because having light was exceptional. Generators, lamps and candles were the order of the day in homes and industries, causing additional costs and inconvenience.

We can see this example, ultimately, as a metaphor for the role that, true to its founding spirit, the University plays: radiating the light of knowledge through what is its own: the search for truth, and, consequently, teaching and research that help society – and directly our students – to escape the darkness of backwardness, ignorance, poverty, inaction, corruption and abandonment.

We can mention many other social development projects, such as those of the University Center for Preventive Medicine, the CUM, which arose as a result of a cholera epidemic (in 1991) and which continued in the medical posts of Medio Piura and surrounding areas; or the Nutritional Rehabilitation Center for children in Los Algarrobos. As well as a Public Health, prevention and education project with audiovisual media carried out at the Audiovisual Production Center. And several for the nutritional use of the carob and promotion of rural industries based on that fruit. They all had funding from the European Union, and participation from entities such as the Istituto per la Cooperazione Universitaria (ICU) and Manos Unidas, among others.

Subsequently, from different faculties and centers, such as the Institute of Hydraulics and the Energy Section, numerous projects benefited rural populations, on the Peruvian-Ecuadorian border and in the Piura mountains, providing them with drinking water systems, electricity, computer centers , internet, based on solar energy; as well as actions to improve the environment, health, teacher training, and much more.

Two emblematic cases were the programs “Lancones” and “Chalaco”. In total, since 2002, when the project office was formalized, there have been 37 social and development projects. In addition to the benefits mentioned, efforts were made, above all, to promote basic education at its three levels, as a fundamental pillar of development, as it helps people acquire competencies and skills that will make them promoters of their own human development.

And these social development projects have also made it possible to complement and enrich the university work of teachers and students, who thus know reality better, and show them that the result of academic work does not remain on library shelves, but is called to fertilize all the areas of society, giving way to a civilization with rights and duties, with human and spiritual works that enrich and make coexistence more prosperous and respectful. This work makes them better people.

 

b) Principle of equal opportunities

Without a doubt, the main contribution to society is the well-trained professionals who graduate year after year into the world of work.

The ideal of equal opportunities, which the University of Piura adopted from the beginning, has benefited many students with scholarships or semi-scholarships. Currently, it grants 10 % full scholarships, in addition to those received by workers' children. It is a burden that the University carries with pleasure, as an expression of its social commitment, and with the hope that those who share its ideals also share this burden.

And, in fact, at different times public and private entities have joined in, providing scholarships to certain groups. For example, in the last 15 years, the Regional Government of Piura has awarded, in total, 16 scholarships to students from the mountains and Bajo Piura; The energy company (Sinersa) has given 68 scholarships for children of workers and members of user boards in its area of influence. And, in recent years, our alumni have begun to organize to provide undergraduate scholarships, so that others can enjoy the opportunities they had.

Since 2011, the programs of the Ministry of Education have been added, with the Bicentennial Scholarship of the Independence of Peru (2011) and those of Pronabec, since 2012. Currently, we have 733 beneficiaries of Scholarship 18, Excellence Scholarship or Teacher Vocation Scholarship , 132 of them, on Campus Lima. They are young people from remote areas and extreme poverty, who have integrated very well into the university environment, with the help of their teachers and classmates. Some are first places and I can even say with satisfaction that they have contributed to improving the study environment and participation in extracurricular activities of the group.

 

c) Training of people

The contribution to society is not exclusively linked to scholarships and financial aid (so important for students and their families), but, above all, to the human training of upright and competent professionals, which the country so desperately needs. Therefore, I give some examples of the contribution that our graduates make.

I could relate the many congratulations received by the University due to the good performance of its graduates and their relevant achievements. I also congratulate them and appreciate that they make us look good. Some have greater visibility because they hold or have held important public positions; Hopefully many more will decide to serve Peru in the field of public service and in political activity, which, well exercised, contributes to the well-being of millions of Peruvians.

I tell another anecdote: an engineer, graduated in the early 80s, worked – I think he still does – for a large business group. On one occasion I asked him how he was doing. He told me that he had been congratulated by his bosses, because the results of his work (which consisted of recruiting professionals) had been very good. He confessed to me with a certain air of mischief that his work did not have much merit, because the root of his success was choosing people from the University of Piura. And, our graduates are highly valued in the professional environment, for their comprehensive training: technical, scientific and in values.

Years ago, before starting my degree in Mechanical-Electrical Engineering, I was told the anecdote of a young industrial engineer at a station on the Norperuano pipeline, who was able to resolve a serious breakdown in the drive turbines, with the admiration of the managers and colleagues for not being a mechanical engineer. Currently, this career already exists and one of its graduates is entrusted with the technical direction of the most complex project at this time in the country, which is the modernization of the Talara Refinery.

It fills me with satisfaction that a graduate of the Faculty of Education Sciences is the Director of the High Performance College, COAR-Piura, and many others work in public and private schools in the region. How much good they do with their teaching vocation lived with competence and enthusiasm. I wish there were more applicants for Education, which has always attracted young people with ideals and a big heart.

Recently, a graduate of the Faculty of Communication told me about his brilliant career. In a short time he held management positions in a company in the fishing sector, with good pay, travel, etc.; But observing the contrast with the needs of so many people, which are, above all, education, has led him to take a break to dedicate himself to being a teacher in a school in a remote town, for the “Enseña Perú” program. In a testimony he says: “A quality education gives you the power to transform reality in favor of those who need it.”

Many other Communication graduates, in their different branches, successfully practice their profession in the country or abroad: the directors of the main media outlets in Piura have traditionally been our graduates. And quite a few have received recognition. What an important contribution from professionals who bring to light good, truthful and timely information, which promotes feelings of solidarity, desire to serve and encouragement in the face of admirable examples that we need to know.

I do not want to fail to refer to the growing number of graduates who choose to start a business, with innovative ventures in some cases, supported by technology, or with a more classic profile, such as several alumni who are successful Agro-export entrepreneurs in our region. I encouraged one of them to promote business activity in the mountains, in the rural context, and he admitted to me that he had tried but without success. Hopefully he and others will insist, to help raise the living conditions of the population in those remote areas.

The Law School is not yet 30 years old, but it has already borne outstanding results thanks to the high quality of its academic faculty and the professional graduates. How many hopes are placed in it to improve the country's justice system, providing well-trained and honest prosecutors and judges. Among its strengths is teaching and research in Administrative Law, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a very relevant editorial production.

Since 2003, the Faculty of Humanities has a History and Cultural Management program, unique in the country. It trains professionals to value the rich cultural heritage of Peru, as an essential element of development. Several graduates already stand out in their work in the Ministry of Culture, in the Ministry of Education, in the Municipality of Lima, in local museums and others. In addition, teachers and students collaborate in cultural development programs: for example, Alma Tallán who supports toquilla straw artisans in Catacaos and, in La Arena, has contributed to recognizing living community culture.

In Lima, the Faculty offers postgraduate studies, in particular, a doctorate in Humanities with a mention in cultural studies.

A few words about the School of Management-PAD. In its 39 years of life it has had a significant impact on business activity in Peru, training several thousand entrepreneurs who contribute to the development of the country, creating businesses, generating jobs. The PAD has been paving the way with audacity and magnanimity. With the advice of IESE of the University of Navarra, the first master's degree at our University began in 1989, with the MBA, then the first doctorate, PhD in Organizational Governance. And when it comes to mentioning merits, the book Government of People, with its anthropological model, has been the most translated and the best-selling so far among those published by the University of Piura. The CARD, acronym in English for the Center for Applied Research and Development, has recently been created, which goes directly to investigate the problems and challenges posed in today's Peru, for which it brings together businessmen, politicians and academics.

I return to relate a personal experience, when I was very close to PAD Master's students in Piura. Several of them frankly confessed to me that they had expected a lot from their master's degree, but that reality far exceeded it, because beyond having learned, they had changed thanks to it in their attitudes and even in their personal lives.

I could continue giving examples of graduates from other majors: Accounting, who usually have job offers before finishing, and Economics, almost always first places in the BCR Courses. And I am sure that when our Psychology and Medicine students finish (the first class has not yet graduated) they will mark a distinctive sign of humanization of these professions. And the same thing is Architecture, which we need so much in Piura, to improve our urban development.

 

d) Research and innovation for competitiveness and sustainable development

Now, I want to briefly refer to research, the genuinely university task, inseparable from teaching.

From the beginning there was a clear awareness of the need to investigate. Some relevant contributions were made by our beloved Dr. Ramón Mugica, initiator of oceanography in Peru, before coming to Piura, and studies on the El Niño Phenomenon at our university. To him and his colleagues, we owe the University's participation in important scientific projects, such as the Campus radar and the Antarctic project, which have allowed the doctoral training of former students and the continuity of these studies in the Physics Laboratory.

Also, almost from the beginning, research was carried out on the carob fruit and its properties for food, and in other aspects related to this important resource.

Later it began to stand out with some projects that have paved the way for new technologies in the region and in the country. Thus, the first system based on Programmable Logic Controller, PLC, that was installed in Petroperú, was developed at UDEP; The first vehicle traffic system intelligently controlled with a microprocessor, one of the first developed by Peruvians in the country, was installed by the University in Piura.

The Institute of Hydraulics stood out in the country, carrying out applied research, with scale models for almost all of the country's hydraulic works. I mention another memory. He came to Piura to see the results of a model for the Charcani 5 project (in AQP), a German engineer who worked for the construction company of that work, and commented that the hydraulic model had been made years before in his Laboratory in Germany. of the Ejidos dam. He was pleasantly impressed by the work of the IHHS and said that if he had been a few years earlier, that work could have been done here, as so many others have been done since.

Starting in 2000, the momentum for research increased increasingly, due to state policies to promote research and innovation. Unfortunately, to date, they do not include the areas of Humanities and Social Sciences, due to a lack of vision of the positive and transcendental impact that such research could have on society.

The Faculty of Engineering has developed a large number of projects (more than 90), most financed by Concytec and Innóvate Perú of the Ministry of Production, many with high impact on agricultural production, rural agroindustry, export and others.

An example of applied research has been the design of a granulated panela production module for the export of organic sugar in towns in the Piura mountains, in the Energy Area, which has allowed productivity and energy efficiency to be doubled, improving technologies. existing and respecting the environment.

Methodologies have been developed to obtain the “digital signature” of organic cocoa and coffee; and improvements in the drying processes, with solar dryers, and fermentation, which are being installed in Buenos Aires (Morropón), improving productivity by at least 30 percent.

These and other examples that I do not mention influence the improvement of living conditions in low-income populations.

In the military sector, with the Varayoc project the Peruvian State developed, for the first time, its own technology for its missile frigates. The design and development of the instrumentation and control systems was done by our professors and the Peruvian Navy, and they meet high-level international standards.

I would like to give more examples and also from the field of humanities and social sciences, but time prevents me. The Memory has already mentioned the San Miguel de Piura, or “Old Piura” project, begun in 1988, which is a long-term commitment to the recovery of our early historical archaeological past. Its understanding and enhancement are essential to generate a transformation of the populations surrounding the site and a better knowledge of our national history.

The Institute of Family Sciences promotes university research on sexuality, human love, marriage and family, from a scientific – and therefore multidisciplinary – perspective, supported by a Christian vision of the world, typical of our Ideology. A concrete example of its impact is its participation, since 2011, in the international research consortium World Family Map Project, which produces annual reports, in scientific publications, on various indicators that show the state of the family in the world.

And finally, the Business Advisory Center, of the Faculty of Economics and Business Sciences, with its recent work together with MIT, studies in depth the factors that limit the productivity of MSEs in the Northern Region.

 

V. Look at the future and its challenges

The very partial mention of examples shows a vocation of the University of Piura to train professionals and carry out research and innovation that contributes to the improvement of our environment and the entire society. We cannot give up on this mission, from our identity which is the study and deepening of knowledge and its application.

We are clear about the challenges to achieve excellence: continue seeking the personal excellence of each teacher, fostering the relationship between colleagues and teachers; and continue promoting academic collaboration with other universities, government and business.

In this sense, the Regional Agenda project, in which the Regional Government, the Chamber of Commerce and Production of Piura, the National University of Piura and the University of Piura, with financing from Concytec, have worked for more than two years is only a starting point, which shows us the way: joining efforts, each one from their own area, with good coordination that requires trust, teamwork, and many more values, such as those the University of Piura seeks to embody and transmit.

 

I must conclude and I do so by posing a question that looks to the future: in 50 years, when the University of Piura celebrates its first centenary, what balance will those who take the reins of this magnificent human enterprise draw? Surely, they will list hundreds of projects. Their campuses will be more alive. Their influence will have reached more corners of the world... But, above all, they will be grateful because the men and women of the University of Piura (some who have not yet been born) will have shown them a path of fidelity to the founding university spirit - of searching for the truth and desire for service – that Saint Josemaría permeated when he encouraged this work to be built in the middle of a desert. You just have to look back in the rearview mirror of your memory, towards that past in which nine teachers and a small group of students started classes among some sandbanks, see this green and colorful present, with thousands of students and hundreds of teachers, to envision that exciting future. A future that today, with everyone's efforts, we are building for Peru and the world of tomorrow.

 

Thank you so much.