In the context of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Bucaramanga, it is important to dedicate space to those personalities, who have left the name of the city high from various fields of knowledge, science, health and education. His work has been recognized both inside and outside the country, with great exponents in their fields.
These are some of the professionals who, with their dedication and care, have achieved important achievements in science and education, which have undoubtedly made the Santander capital stand out in recent decades.
Elena Stashchenko
The scientist and professor at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Industrial University of Santander is considered one of the 50 most influential women in analytical sciences in the world by the scientific journal Analytical Scientist. Although he was born in Russia, he has lived in the city for nearly 40 years, leaving UIS’s name high on teaching, innovation and research.
Virgilio Galvez Ramirez
With more than 45 years of professional experience, he is a surgeon, ophthalmologist, former Minister of Health, and founder of one of the most prestigious institutions in the country: Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander, Foscal. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fusonab Foundation, and Founding Dean of the Unab Program of Medicine. Virgilio Gálvez has set the city and department as the national standard in visual health.
Anna Maria Porras
He devoted his life to biomedical engineering, technology and mathematics. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida majoring in Tissue Engineering. Honored by the prestigious Smithsonian Museum in the United States. Through her work, the biomedical engineer from Bumangues is building an important name in the world of science on a global scale.
William Omar Contreras
This scientist is the first neurosurgeon in the country to be awarded three fellowships, in addition to having PhDs and postdocs in Germany and Brazil and integrating the Department of Functional Neurosurgery at Harvard University. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 scholarly articles and book chapters, Colcencias scholar, international speaker and university professor.
Carmen Camacho de Motis
His life and work are etched in the educational memory of the capital of Santander and the department. She has been designated a “Twentieth Century Educator” for her incomparable coaching work as director for four decades of Centrabilitar, an institution that has allowed the education of deaf minors and young people who have knocked on its doors. He passed away in July of this year at the age of 104.
Antonia Cardozo Serrano
She is considered one of Bucaramanga’s “Teachers’ Teachers”, as well as one of the Deans of the Normal School, a position which she held in 1959 and where she left her mark. She founded the Graduate School and promoted political intellectuals among the women of her time. The new methodology of this important city institution owes a debt. The famous teacher passed away in 2014.
Alfonso Gomez Gomez
He is considered one of the most prominent leaders of the city and department of the century and a great promoter of two educational institutions that have achieved wide exposure: Instituto Caldas and Universidade Autonuma de Bucaramanga, ONAP. The lawyer by profession passed away in April 2013.
