Santiago – The Pontifical Catholic University Mother and Teacher (PUCMM) swore in three new members to its Board of Directors this Friday, who will contribute their experiences and talents to the leadership that transcends this house of higher studies. Thus, the Board is made up of 22 members in total.
Manuel Alejandro Grullón, Frank Elías Rainieri Kuret and José F. López Larache are the new members of the governance council of this university, who were chosen from different sectors of civil society. The swearing in was in charge of the Grand Chancellor of the PUCMM, Monsignor Freddy Antonio de Jesús Bretón Martínez, Metropolitan Archbishop of Santiago de los Caballeros.
The Board of Directors of the Mother and Teacher is delegated by the Dominican Bishops’ Conference, where the authority to govern the institution rests, except for those powers established in the statutes.
It is currently made up of 21 members and one Ad-Vitam member of which there will always be three bishops, including the Grand Chancellor, who will be the president of said board, the rector and two vice-rectors will also be members. Today the rest of the members were also ratified.
academic memories
The swearing-in was held prior to the presentation of the reports corresponding to the 2021-2022 academic period, which was held during the Eucharist celebrated in thanksgiving for the achievements of PUCMM during this time.
At this point, Rector Secilio Espinal highlighted that in this academic year, student enrollment was 11,763 students, for an increase of 5.37% compared to the previous year, representing a sustained growth in enrollment in recent years. In its 60 years, PUCMM has more than 95,000 graduates in degree, master’s and doctoral programs.
This year, PUCMM also entered the recognized QS University ranking and consolidated its national leadership in scientific research. “With 69 publications in 2021 and this 2022 it has reached the figure of 67, which exceeds expectations for a definitive leadership in national research,” said Espinal.
“It can be said that it has been a memorable year, with tangible achievements that challenge us to have a proactive and positive attitude to face the social challenges of a university committed to social transformation,” said Secilio Espinal during the presentation of reports to the Conference of the Dominican Episcopate, members of the Board of Directors and the university family.
During this period, La Madre y Maestra expanded its international relations with the establishment of new agreements with foreign universities, such as the PhD in Law in alliance with the Universidad de Externado de Colombia. In addition, she has agreements for doctoral scholarships with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Mescyt) and new advances in the accreditation processes of Medicine and Civil Engineering careers.
Another outstanding recognition in this academic period was the very recent award as “Inclusion Agent” granted by the National Council on Disability (Conadis), thanks to the inclusion initiatives that the university has been promoting for years.
The swearing in and the mass for the presentation of the memories were held this Friday, December 16, 2022, in the Rectory Room and the Nuestra Señora de la Anunciación Parish, respectively, on the Santiago campus.
