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Pontifical Xavierian University — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Main Campus in Bogotá

The university's main campus has a total area of 445 acres (180ha) and approximately 202,988 spared meters of construction. Inside, there are a total of 45 buildings, 18 cafeterias, 1 university bookstore, a hospital, 1 parking block building with 1200 parking spaces, and 1 travel agency. The main campus is located inside the locality of Chapinero in eastern Bogotá since 1940. This campus borders important city landmarks such as the Parque Nacional Enrique Olaya Herrera to the south, the emblematic Carrera Séptima (seventh street) on the west end, the Eastern Hills (Bogotá) and the traditional Chapinero Block to the north. Today this university maintains its open campus environment that allows pedestrians to walk on the interior.

A brief history of some of the university's most emblematic buildings:

Most Buildings are named after previous presidents or deceased Jesuit Faculty members who were important members of the academic community.

1951: The university begins its modern development with the construction of the Edificio Emilio Arango, S.J., today this building is home to the university's central government and administration.

1955: Hospital Universitario San Ignacio is built, home to the school of Medicine.

1954: The inauguration of the Edificio Félix Restrepo, S.J. alongside the programs of Bacteriology, Art and Decorations, Law, Nursing, Commerce, and Philosophy.

1958: The Architecture workshops are opened.

1959: Female in-campus Housing facilities, which today is known as Edificio Carlos Ortiz, S.J.

1976: The Jesús María Fernandez, S.J. Building is open to the public. Today it houses the Main library named after Alfonso Borrero Cabal S.J.

1980 -1990: The new phase of development begins, with buildings such as José Gabriel Maldonado, S.J. Building, home to the school of Engineering and all its departments.

1991: The Gabriel Giraldo, S.J., custom made for The School of Law and The School of Political Science and International Relationships. In 1993, the Lecture room Building Fernando Barón, S.J. is built, and in 1996 the parking lot building with room for 1,200 vehicles.

2000: The university expands its physical development to the southeast with the Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Building where the School of Theology is located. Alongside this building there is also the Javeriana Centre for Sport Education (Gym, Sports and Training Facilities) and the Manuel Briceño, S.J. Building for The School of Psychology, The School of Social Sciences, and The School of Philosophy.

2008: The university begins construction for "The Master Plan for The Development of The University's Infrastructure" alongside the very strict policy for ecological and environmental preservation. This plan includes the construction of the new Comparative Biology Building (2009), the Faculty of Arts Building (2014), the Jorge Hoyos, S.J. Building (now nicknamed "The Arc" for its peculiar architectural design) which opened in 2016, The ATICO Center (2009), one of the most technologically advanced buildings in Latin America for the Arts and Communication Studies (Atico is an acronym in Spanish for "High Technology, information, and computing").

Development continues with The School of Engineering Laboratory Building (the tallest building on campus with a total of 15 floors) that opened its doors in 2020, the new Science Labs Building, and the Continuing Studies off-campus Building, in the northern part of the city, which is still under construction. The master plan also includes the construction of a new and more modern Hospital, an auditorium capable of holding ceremonies with up to 1,800 people, the new School of Architecture and Design Building, and an expansion to the gym facilities to include an on-campus pool.

Cali Branch

On 6 October 1970, responding to requests from the local community and the efforts of a group of practicing accountants who aspired to obtain the university degree, a Program of Public Accounting began in Cali. This was the origin of the Cali branch of the Javeriana University. On 20 November 1978, the board proposed the name Cali Branch, with headquarters in the capital under the same organization and higher authorities. The board of regents, at the request of the board, adopted the name Cali Branch.

The campus of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali is located in the south of the city, in Pance, at the foot of the Farallones de Cali, part of the Cordillera Occidental, in a totally rural environment where vegetation and fauna abound. The campus consists of nine buildings (Las Palmas, Guayacanes, classrooms block, administration, Saman, Almendros, continuing education, Las Acacias and Cedro Rosado). The campus features multiple cafés and restaurants, the Javeriana Shop, a large parking lot surrounding the entire campus, a branch of Corpbanca, a center of the Colombia Stock Exchange, and an MBA extension of Temple University Fox School of Business and Management.

The campus includes Alfonso Borrero Cabal auditorium; Central Library, one of the most complete in the Colombian Southwest; Loyola Sports Center; the office of entrepreneurship "Campus Nova", which fosters entrepreneurial talent within the university; and the Javeriano Writing Center, highly regarded for helping students develop writing skills.

The university has 35 research groups attached to the government Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation; and a station, Javeriana Stereo FM 107.5 with a wide audience in the Colombian Southwest. It offers students opportunities in more than 87 countries and boasts 120 academic cooperation agreements with universities abroad.

Currently, the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali offers 19 undergraduate programs of which eight have received quality accreditation by the Ministry of Education (Civil Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering and Computer Science, Business Administration, Accounting law and Psychology). It is well known for its Law and International Business degrees. The law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali is prestigious in Cali and the Colombian Suroccidente, profiting from one of the most complete moot courts for student practice. The Cali branch of the Faculty of Health Sciences inaugurated the Moot Hospital which has high-tech teams and a superior infrastructure for student interns.

In March 2012, the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali received the Institutional Accreditation of High Quality from the Ministry of Education for eight years, placing it among the more competitive private universities in the country.

Alumni

Javeriana's alumni include a vast range of prominent individuals in the history of the country and the region, with the following (non-exhaustive) list representative, including Presidents of Colombia, Vice Presidents of Colombia, National and International Ministers, Grammy Award-winning artists, Academy Award-nominated artists, Tony Award-nominated artists, Miss Universe, Olympic medallists and people included in Forbes and BBC lists.

Camilo Prieto Valderrama, climate science professor and environmentalist.

Ernesto Samper, President of Colombia (1994–1998)

Daniel Samper Pizano, lawyer, journalist, and writer

Daniel Samper Ospina, comedian, writer, journalist, and columnist

Misael Pastrana, president of Colombia (1970–1974)

Marta Lucía Ramírez, vice president of Colombia (2018–2022); 2021 Forbes list of the Colombian 50 most powerful woman

María Juliana Ruiz, first lady of Colombia (2018–2022)

Rodolfo Llinás, neuroscientist, University Professor at the New York University; Director of the Neurolab Research on the NASA and Ralph W. Gerard Prize laureate

Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento, politician

Gustavo Bell, vice president of Colombia (1998–2002)

Peter Claver, priest and missionary

Ignacio Martín-Baró, scholar, psychologist, philosopher and Jesuit priest

Marcela Ocampo Duque, lawyer, Executive Manager Banco de la Republica

Vicky Colbert, Politician and Sociologist; 2017 BBC 100 Women

Catalina Sandino Moreno, Academy Award-nominated actress

Catalina Robayo, Miss Colombia 2010, placed Top 16 at Miss Universe 2011.

Alejandro R. Jadad Bechara, physician, innovator, networker and humanist

Henry Krieger, Broadway producer; Grammy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated producer

Ángela Robledo, psychologist, member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

Fernando Araújo Perdomo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia (2007–2008)

Noemí Sanín, former minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, former ambassador to the United Kingdom and Spain

Óscar Iván Zuluaga Escobar, former Minister of Finance and Public Credit (2007–2010)

Juan Carlos Pinzón, former minister of defense (2011–2015) and Ambassador of Colombia to the United States (2015–2017, 2021–)

Gina Parody, former Minister of Education (2014–2016)

Aurelio Iragorri Valencia, former minister of interior of Colombia (2013–2018)

Claudia Blum, psychologist; former minister of foreign affairs (2019–2021)

Natalia Abello Vives, former minister of transport of Colombia (2014–2018)

Diego Molano Vega, former Minister of Information Technologies and Communications (2010–2014)

Carlos Holguín Sardi, former minister of the Interior and Justice in Colombia (2006–2008)

Juan Camilo Restrepo Salazar, former minister of agriculture and rural development of Colombia (2010–2013)

Fernando Londoño, former minister of the interior and justice of Colombia (2002–2004)

Juan Carlos Esguerra Portocarrero, former minister of justice and law of Colombia (2011–2012)

Ricardo Velez Rodriguez, Brazilian Minister of Education

Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, former Colombia Ambassador to the United States (1983–1985) and former Colombia ambassador to France (1991–1993)

Jorge Franco, writer; Alfaguara Prize 2014

Jorge Alfredo Vargas, news presenter

Jorge Enrique Abello, actor; participated in Yo soy Betty, la fea, Betty en NY, iCarly and others

Santiago Gamboa, writer

Fonseca, singer; Grammy Award-nominated and Latin Grammy Award-winner artist

Laura Tobón, model, beauty & fashion blogger

Simón Brand, Hollywood director

Vanessa de la Torre, journalist

Riyad al-Maliki, minister of Foreign Affairs of Palestinian Authority

Ignacio Martín-Baró, Spanish philosopher and psychologist

Claudia Palacios, former anchor for CNN en Español

Carlos Pizarro Leongómez, politician, commander of M-19 (dropped out)

Mario Mendoza Zambrano, writer

Fernando Vallejo, writer

Paulina Dávila, actress

Jackeline Rentería, Olympic medallist (2008, 2012)

Kristina Lilley, American born-Colombian actress (She studied Biology before she became an actress).

Paulina Vega, Miss Colombia 2013 and Miss Universe 2014; 2021 Forbes list of the Colombian 50 most powerful woman

Giancarlo Mazzanti, architect

Brigitte Baptiste, Environmental scientist and researcher, President of the EAN University and 2021 Forbes list of the Colombian 50 most powerful woman

Ricardo La Rotta Caballero, architect

Camilo Prieto Valderrama, surgeon and environmentalist

Diana Wiswell, actress.

General Freddy Padilla De León, former commander of the Colombian Armed Forces, former Minister of Defense, ambassador

María Teresa Herrán, Colombian journalist and artist

Catalina García, singer (dropped out to co-found Grammy Award-nominated and Latin Grammy Award-winning Colombian musical group Monsieur Periné)