Trayectoria

Curriculum - English

Alemán - Ingles - Frances - Español (Curriculum extendido)

• President Party pro Democracy (PPD) (June 2006- ) Elected for a third term with 60% of the vote. The PPD is a member of the government coalition ( Concertación).
• Coordinator Michelle Bachelet`s presidential campaign (second round, dec. 2005, jan. 2006).
  Minister of Education and President of the Chilean National Commission of UNESCO. (2003- ). His priorities have been the quality of education and a reform of higher education. In 2003 he obtained the approval of a Constitutional Amendment stating mandatory and free secondary education. Congress also approved a bill mandating teacher's evaluation in all public schools. Launched a new program for improving English teaching, and received the “Advocacy Award”, conferred by TESOL (Teachers o English for students of other languages), Florida , March 2006. (march 2003- dec 2005)
• Senator (1994-2002) He has been member of the Finance, Foreign Affairs, Economics and Mining Committees. Leading senator in promoting the "Leyes Arica" (regional development) and implementing an e-legislation program in the Senate for citizen's participation. President of the Budget Sub Committee for the Armed Forces (2000 and 2001) .
• President (1992-1994 and 1997-2000) and Secretary General (1990-1992) of the PPD. Spokesman for the government coalition in 1998 and 1999. Awarded with the "Democratic Merit" medal by the Concertación (April 2000). Head of the PPD parliamentary campaign (2001).
• Minister of Mining during the Allende Administration (1973). Economic advisor to the President (1971-1972). Director of Industrial Planning, Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (1968-1970) .
• He was arrested after the military coup (Sept. 1973) and imprisoned in a concentration camp ( Dawson Island ) and then obliged to exile (1974-1984). He lived in Venezuela and the United States.
• Founder and vice-president of the newspaper Fortín Mapocho (opposition newspaper during the Pinochet regime) and member of the board of several Chilean magazines (1986-1992).
  

Other Public activities

• Member of the Executive Board of the Inter-American Dialogue ( Washington DC), vice-president Fundación Paz Ciudadana (citizen´s security),
• President of the Corporation Museo del Salitre (aimed to restore the "saltpeter offices", north of Chile, where we was elected Senator).
• President of Corporación para la Innovación Política (aimed at promoting progressive political thinking).
• Member of the board Fundacion Pais Digital (for the enhancement of ICT).
• Director PREAL (promotion educational reform in Latin America )
• Ambassador on Special Mission of the Chilean Senate to request support for the election of a Chilean senator as President of the World Parliamentary Union (2002).

Academics

• Former Member of the Board (2002), Universidad de Santiago.
• Founder and president of the Latin American Center for International Economics and Politics (CLEPI) Santiago (1987-1993).
• Visiting Fellow Harvard Institute for International Development (1975-1978) and The Wilson International Center for Scholars, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (1982-1983).
• Consultant at ECLA (Economic Committee for Latin America , UN) (1985) and SELA (Sistema Económico Latinoamericano) (1979-1981).
• Full professor School of Engineering (1965) and Director Department of Industries (1966-1968) University of Chile . Awarded “Outstanding Engineer”, Department of Industry, University of Chile ,2004.

Business Management

• President of an industrial company in Caracas , Venezuela (19976-1986) and member of the board of other companies in Chile (1987-1993). Awarded as "Outstanding Entrepreneur" by Corpoprensa, Venezuela ,1978.

Studies

• Degree in Civil Engineering, University of Chile (1963) (Marcos Orrego Award, to the best student, Instituto de Ingenieros, 1965).
• Graduate studies in Economics at the Centre d´Etudes de Programmes Economiques, Paris (Diplome, 1965) and at Harvard University (Master Degree in Public Administration, 1971).
• Secondary education at the Instituto Nacional (1951-1957). Award in recognition for outstanding "Public Service" (Centro ex alumnos Instituto Nacional, 2001).

Author, Books:

• Educacion Nuestra Riqueza . Chile educa para el Siglo XXI, El Mercurio- Aguilar, Santiago, Chile, November 2005.
• Isla 10, Pehuén Editores Ltda., Santiago, Chile, Ten editions between 1988 and 1999
• Chile 1970.-1973, Editorial Pehuén, Chile, 1996 and 2001, also published as Trasiçao, Socialismo e Democracia, Paz e Terra, Rio de Janeiro, 1981 ("the best book written on the Chilean experience" according to Brasilian economist Celso Furtado) and Chile Experiment on Democracy, Institute for the Study of Human Issues, Pittsburg, 1985.
• Chile para Todos, Editorial Planeta, Santiago, 1988
• Venezuela, the Industrial Challenge, University Press of America, 1990, also published as El Desafío Industrial de Venezuela, Editorial Pomaire, Buenos Aires, 1983.
• Crisis Financiera e Industrial en América Latina, Grupo Editor Latinoamericano. Buenos Aires, 1988.
• Política Económica de Estados Unidos en América Latina, Documentos de la Administración Reagan, Grupo Editor Latinoamericano, Buenos Aires, 1984.
  

Author, recent articles:

• “¿Cual es la Educación que Chile necesita?” en Chile Supera la Encrucijada , Instituto de Ingenieros, Editorial Universidad de Concepción, Chile, 2005.
• Chile: Caracteristica e desafios do sistema de Educacao Superior, en Universidades no Mundo , vol 2, Universidade de Brasilia, 2004, pp159 -182.
• Desafíos de la Educación en Chile y lecciones de los paises del Asia Pacifico” Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Escuela de gobierno, Santiago, Chile, Octubre 2004.
• “ Reformas Institucionales para el Crecimiento de América Latina" Seminario CEPAL, Santiago, May 2002.
• "Infraestructura e Integración en América Latina" ,ALADI, Montevideo, August 2002.

Family:

• Born in Santiago, Chile, December, 1940. Married to Maria Eugenia Hirmas (sociologist). Two sons and one daughter: Javier (Civil Engineer, University of Chile), Rodrigo (Civil Engineer, University of Chile, MBA Harvard) and Patricia (M.D., Radiologist, University of Chile).