National University of San Marcos

Updated on Oct 07, 2024

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Type Public Address Lima District 15081, Peru Phone +51 1 6197000 Total enrollment 28,786 (2010)		Established May 12, 1551 Founder Fray Thomas de San Martín Mascot Lion

Motto Universidad del Perú,Decana de América Motto in English University of Peru,Dean of America Rector Dr. Orestes Cachay Boza Academic staff 2005 (full time)674 (part time) Founded 12 May 1551, Valladolid, Spain Colors White, Steel blue, Magenta, Gold Notable alumni Mario Vargas Llosa, José María Arguedas, Federico Villarreal, Jorge Basadre, Daniel Alcides Carrión Similar Pontifical Catholic University, National University Federico, Cayetano Heredia University, National University of Engine, National Agrarian University Profiles Facebook Google+ Twitter

Tuna veterinaria de la universidad nacional mayor de san marcos unmsm

The National University of San Marcos (Spanish: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, UNMSM) is the most important and respected higher-education institution in Peru. It consistently ranks among the top two universities in the country. Its main campus, the University City, is located in Lima. It was chartered on May 12, 1551, by a royal decree signed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, which makes it the oldest officially established university in the Americas and, as such, one of the oldest universities in the world. San Marcos has 60 academic-professional schools, organized into 20 faculties, and 6 academic areas. All the faculties offer undergraduate and graduate degrees. The student body consists of over 30,000 undergraduate and 4,000 graduate students from all the country, as well as some international students. The university has a number of public institutions under its government such as the San Marcos Cultural Center and the Museum of Natural History of Lima.

San Marcos' prestige in Latin America mainly arises from its renowned faculty and alumni. It is the only university in Peru with a Nobel Prize laureate among its alumni: Mario Vargas Llosa (Literature). San Marcos is also recognized for the quality of its curricular contents, its very competitive admission process, as well as for being a leading center of scientific research. Several Peruvian and Latin American influential thinkers, researchers, scientists, politicians and writers have studied there, which underscores San Marcos' leading role as an educational institution in the history of Peru and the world.

Unmsm caminando por la ciudad universitaria

Oldest official university in America

San Marcos was officially established by a royal decree (signed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) on May 12, 1551, and since then it has operated without interruption. Hence, it is known as the Dean of America ("dean" in the sense of "oldest member"). San Marcos also claims that according to the Archivo General de Indias, a famous Spanish repository of documents on the former colonies in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, there were no official records authorizing any other university or higher-education institution before 1551. The Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico was chartered the same year as San Marcos (by a royal decree of September 21, 1551) as the Royal University of Mexico, making it the second oldest in the Americas.

Although the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo was founded in 1538, it was not officially recognized by Royal Decree until 1558, and, as many other universities in the Americas that closed during independence wars and other political conflicts, it was closed due to the occupations of the Dominican Republic by Haiti and then the United States. San Marcos often states the National University of Santo Domingo's founding Papal bull In Apostolatus culmine, was not officially recognized by the King of Spain at the time; hence making into an apocryphal document. The Peruvian institution also states that the document in question was discredited by Pope Paul III.

Government

The university was originally headed by members of the clergy. During the Enlightenment, Bourbon reforms transformed it into a secular institution. Nowadays, the university is governed by:

The University Council

The University Assembly (composed of professors and students, with the latter holding a third of the seats).

The Rector (president)

Two Vice-Rectors:

Academic Vice-Rector

Vice-Rector of investigation.

Academic areas and faculties

The original faculties at San Marcos were Theology, Arts (the old Scholastic term for what is now known as academic Philosophy) and Law; Jurisprudence, and Medicine were added later in the colonial period. The Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Faculty of Economics and Commerce were created in the mid-19th century. The Faculty of Science was subdivided by specialities in the 20th century. The Faculty of Theology was closed in 1935.

In the mid-1990s San Marcos' departments were grouped into four academic blocks. Nowadays, San Marcos' faculties are grouped into 6 academic areas, as shown below.