Rafael Rangel Sostmann

Infobox Person
name = Rafael Rangel Sostmann


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birth_date = 1941
birth_place = Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico
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education = Ph. D. in engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
occupation = President of Tecnologico de Monterrey
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Dr. Rafael Rangel Sostmann was born in Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico in 1941. He received a degree in mechanical/electrical engineering from Tecnologico de Monterrey in 1965. He was awarded a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1966 and a Ph. D. in engineering from the same university in 1973.

Since January, 1985 he has been president of Tecnológico de Monterrey, a private institution composed of 33 campuses, with a student enrollment of 92,875 and faculty of 8,448 (data from April, 2007); and a [http://www.ruv.itesm.mx Virtual University] , that offers educational programs reaching several countries in Latin America.

From the beginning of his administration, one of his priorities was the establishment of faculty up-grading programs to ensure that all professors have graduate degrees.

He also promoted an educational model centered on student learning, with the result that innovative teaching techniques and information technologies are widely used. To promote faculty and student exchanges with universities around the world, he set up 21 liaison offices: 7 in North America, 6 in South America, 5 in Europe and 3 in China.

Dr. Rangel has increased research at Tecnológico de Monterrey, especially in those fields that are strategic for the development of Mexico in the context of the new knowledge economy, and promoted the installation of business incubators and technology parks at the institution’s campuses to generate greater synergy between the university and the productive sector in the different regions, and prepare students to become the creators of their own businesses after graduation.

His particular concern to extend the reach of education to broader sectors of society led him to found * [http://www.tecmilenio.edu.mx TecMilenio University] with 30 Campuses, where the face-to-face and virtual models are combined and the focus is on the development of job competencies in students. In addition, he has promoted the establishment of over 1,000 [http://www.cca.org.mx Community Learning Centers] , located in remote, isolated communities, that offer residents educational and development programs via the Internet, such as junior high and high school online programs. Recently he founded the Institute for Social Development in which students, as part of their community service work, act as advisors in business incubator and educational programs, the most important aims of this new organization. As an outgrowth of his participation in the World Economic Forum, held in January 2007 in Davos, Switzerland, Dr. Rangel is collaborating with the University Presidents Club, whose members are interested in solving educational problems around the world, particularly in Latin America.

In 2000, Dr. Rangel presided over the Commission on Education in President elect Vicente Fox Quesada’s Transition Team.

Three universities outside Mexico have awarded him honorary doctorates: Florida International University in 1994; the University of British Columbia in 2003; and Arizona State University in 2004.

In June 2006 in Spain, he was the first person to receive the [http://www.ie.edu Business Institute’s] Gold Medal award.

Dr. Rafael Rangel is a board member of the following organizations:

World Bank Institute
Overseers’ Committee to Visit the Harvard Business School
[http://www.laspau.harvard.edu LASPAU] : Scholarship program for Latin America, with headquarters in Boston
UNIVERSIA: Ibero-American university consortium
[http://www.sacs.org SACS] : Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
[http://www.cemex.com CEMEX] : third largest cement manufacturer in the world

External links

* [http://www.itesm.mx Tecnologico de Monterrey]
* [http://www.ruv.itesm.mx Virtual University]
* [http://www.tecmilenio.edu.mx TecMilenio University]