Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
- This article is about the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. For the Immune Tyrosine Activation Motif, see ITAM (motif). For the field of information technology asset management, see IT asset management.
| ITAM Logo | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Established | 1946 |
| President | Arturo M. Fernández Pérez |
Academic staff | 239 |
| Location | , , |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | itam.mx |
The Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (most commonly known as ITAM, English: The Autonomous Technical Institute of Mexico), is a private research university located in Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico. It is one of the nation’s preeminent instuitions of higher learning, and the highest ranked internationally save the National Autonomous University of Mexico. It is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary.
History
ITAM was founded as the Instituto Tecnológico de México (ITM), on March 29, 1946 under the aegis of the Mexican Association of Culture (Asociación Mexicana de Cultura). A group of wealthy individuals with interests in banking, industry and commerce, lead by Don Raúl Baillères, created the institution with the goal of using higher education as a promoter of economic and industrial change in Mexico. It is one of the top business schools in Mexico and was ranked as the best business and economics school in Latin America.
It was originally an economics school and one year later it opened its undergraduate business school. Due to the opening of the accounting school, the institute grew from 52 students in 1947 to 500 in 1951. In 1963, by government decree, the ITAM was recognized as a “Free University School” and became autonomous (hence its name). However the inclusion of the word autonomous in its name was not recognized by the government until 1985.
During the 1970’s new programs were added including Applied Mathematics (1974), Social Sciences (1975) and a Master of Business Administration (1974). New programs were added in the 80’s and 90’s including: Law (1980), Actuarial Science(1982), Computer Science (1983), Political Science (1991, instead of Social Science), Foreign Affairs (1992), Telematics (1993), Industrial Engineering (1997) and Business Engineering (2004).
Campus
During its first four years the ITAM was originally located in a house in Mexico City’s centro in 518 La Palma street. In 1950 the institute moved to 65 Serapio Rendón street in the Colonia San Rafael. During the late 50’s it moved once more to a new building built specially for the institute at the corner of Marina Nacional street and Lago Zirahuen street in the Colonia Anáhuac. Finally on march of 1978 ITAM moves to its current campus in 1 Río Hondo, in San Ángel. In 1991 the smaller graduate school campus, in 939 Camino Santa Teresa, was opened.
University presidents
During its 60 years ITAM has had 8 presidents (Rectores in Spanish)
- Arturo Fernández Pérez, (1992 to date)
- Javier Beristain Iturbide, (1972-1991)
- Antonio Carrillo Flores, (1971-1972)
- Joaquín Gómez Morfín (1968-1971)
- Enrique Moreno de Tagle (1967-1968)
- Gustavo Petricioli Iturbide (1967)
- Agustín de la Llera (1952-1967)
- Eduardo García Máynez (1946-1951)
Departments
Today the institute has 38 academic programs dependent on 14 academic departments and 5 academic divisions. The academic programs include Licenciaturas and Ingenierias (equivalent to BA and BSc), joint programs as well as masters and PhD programs.
Department of Economics
Rather than offer instruction in a full range of subjects, the school has an overtly technocratic educational program, with majors in the applied social sciences and natural sciences. The Department of Economics has been especially influential, it is a major feeder for Latin American candidates into top international graduate programs, and has played an important role in the economic liberalization process that the Mexican Government started in the mid 80's; in the last 20 years most of Mexico's Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Finance have been either ITAM professors or alumni. The department is ranked either as the best or second best economics school in Mexico, depending on the survey.
Department of Foreign Affairs
The Department of Foreign Affairs is one of the main research centers of diplomatic studies in Mexico. It includes programs as the Institute of European Integration Studies and the Inter-American Studies Center. Also, ITAM publishes the Latin American edition of Foreign Affairs, the american journal of international relations.
Research Centers
As a research university ITAM has several research centers dedicated to economics, law, political science foreig affairs and business.
- Centro de Análisis e Investigación Económica (CAIE) - Research on the Mexican economy
- Centro de Economía Aplicada y de Políticas Públicas (CEAPP) - Public policy research
- Centro de Estadística Aplicada - Applied Statistics
- Centro de Estudios de Competitividad (CEC) Competition research
- Centro de Estudios de Derecho Privado - Private law
- Centro de Estudios de Derecho Público - Public law
- Centro de Estudios y Programas Interamericanos (CEPI) - Inter-American studies
- Centro de Evaluación Socioeconómica de Proyectos (CESP) - Socioeconomic project analysis
- Centro Internacional para la Investigación en Pensiones - Pension research
- Centro de Investigación Económica (CIE) - Basic economic research
International Programs
ITAM is currently collaborating with the Arizona State University in the ITAM/W.P. Carey School of Business Executive MBA Program.
Faculty
According to its website [1] ITAM has 239 professors and researchers, 85 percent of which are full time professors. 90 percent of the faculty has a graduate degree and 68 percent has a PhD, furthermore 20 percent of the professors are part of Mexico's National Research System (Sistema Nacional de Investigadores). Some famous faculty members include:
- Pedro Aspe Armella.
- Denise Dresser.
- Francisco Gil Díaz.
- Jesús Silva Herzog Márquez.
- Rossana Fuentes Berain.
Notable alumni
Mexican Presidents
- Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, current President of Mexico (Graduate School).
Mexican Ministers of Finance
- Gustavo Petricioli Iturbide, Minister of Finance during the Miguel de la Madrid administration.
- Pedro Aspe Armella, Minister of Finance during the Carlos Salinas administration.
- Francisco Gil Díaz, Minister of Finance during the Vicente Fox administration..
- Agustín Carstens Carstens, current Minister of Finance.
Other Ministers in the Mexican Government
- Georgina Kessel Martínez, current Minister of Energy
- Luis Tellez Kuenzler, former Minister of Energy during the Ernesto Zedillo administration and current Minister of Transport.
Business persons
- María Asunción Aramburuzabala, Mexico's richest woman, shareholder of Grupo Modelo.
- Alberto Baillères, third richest man in Mexico and ninth in Latin America, owner of Grupo Bal, Peñoles, El Palacio de Hierro and Grupo Nacional Provincial.
Others
- Miguel Mancera Aguayo, former governor of the Banco de México (Mexico's Central Bank).
- Luis Carlos Ugalde, current president of the Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute.
Today
The Institute is proud of teaching humanities and philosophical courses inside every major, this with the objective of developing a higher sense of ethics even with majors like economics and business management. The school offers an extensive option of scholarship and student loans sponsored by private organizations and non profit associations.