The Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (Spanish: Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México), commonly known as ITAM, is a private university located in Mexico City. It is one of Mexico's most important institutions of higher learning; highly prestigious in the social sciences. It is also considered one of Mexico's think tanks and has the highest rank of admission to the Mexican Foreign Service.
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History
It was originally an Economics School and one year later it opened its undergraduate business school. Due to the opening of the Accounting School, the institute grew from 52 students in 1947 to 500 in 1951. In 1963, by government decree, the ITAM was recognized as a "Free University School" and the school added the word "autonomous" to its name. However the inclusion of the word autonomous in its name was not recognized officially by the government until 1985.
During the 1970s new programs were added including applied mathematics (1974), social science (1975) and a Master of Business Administration (1974). In the 1980s and '90s the additions were: law (1980), actuarial science (1982), computer science (1983), political science (1991, instead of social science), international relations (1992), telematics (1993) and industrial engineering (1997). During the last decade the academic offer was increased by the establishment of business engineering (2004), financial management and mechatronics (2010).
Campuses
During its first four years the ITAM was originally located in a house in Mexico City's centro in 518 La Palma street. In 1950 the institute moved to 65 Serapio Rendón street in the Colonia San Rafael. During the late 1950s it moved once more to a new building built specially for the institute at the corner of Marina Nacional street and Lago Zirahuen street in the Colonia Anáhuac. Finally, in 1978, ITAM moved to its current campus in 1 Río Hondo, in San Ángel. In 1991 the smaller graduate school campus, in 939 Camino Santa Teresa, was opened.
Administration and organization
Rectors
During its 60 years ITAM has had eight rectors:
Arturo Fernández Pérez, (1992 to date).
Javier Beristain Iturbide, (1972–1991).
Antonio Carrillo Flores, (1971–1972).
Joaquín Gómez Morín, (1968–1971).
Enrique Moreno de Tagle, (1967–1968).
Gustavo Petricioli Iturbide, (1967).
Agustín de la Llera, (1952–1967).
Eduardo García Máynez, (1946–1951).
Academic divisions (schools)
Today the institute has 38 academic programs dependent on and organized in 5 academic divisions, subdivided in 14 academic departments (equivalent to Schools). The academic programs include Licenciaturas and Ingenierias (equivalent to B.A., B.Sc. and LL.B.), as well as Masters (M.A., MBA and M.Sc.) and a Ph.D. program.
This division is in charge of:
B.A./B.Sc. in economics
B.A. in political science
LL.B.
M.A. in economics (applied economics)
M.A. in human rights
M.Sc. in economic theory
Ph.D. in economics
The ITAM, through this department, offers an education in modern economics, with a considerable emphasis on analytic techniques and economic models, in line with the subjects being taught in economics departments around the world. The Department of Economics has been especially influential. It is a major feeder for Latin American candidates into top international graduate programs, and has played an important role in the economic liberalization process that the Mexican Government started in the mid 1980s; in the last 20 years most of Mexico's Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries of Finance have been either ITAM professors or alumni. The department is ranked as the best Economics school in Mexico, depending on the survey, and one of the Top 75 Economics departments globally.
The Department of Political Science has been considered the leading faculty in the field since the mid 1980s. With the formal change of the major in 1991, the program was adapted to modern American political science, and thus incorporated important tools like mathematics, economics and statistics. The program has since been a tremendous success, becoming a leading school in the subject. This is largely due to the number of students and full-time faculty with PhDs from other leading universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Duke, Chicago, Michigan, Princeton, UCLA, UCSD, and Yale. Many of its undergraduate students are recruited in the best universities in the United States and Europe and others are employed in the federal and local governments and political parties.
Academics
The institute is proud of teaching humanities and philosophical courses inside every major, this with the objective of developing a higher sense of ethics even with majors like economics and business management.
Accreditations
All the programs at ITAM are officially accredited by the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP). In 2005 ITAM Business School became the first in Mexico to hold simultaneous accreditation of its programs by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) of the United States, the Association of MBAs of the United Kingdom and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS). Since 2009 the Computer Science and Industrial Engineering B.S. degrees have been accredited by ABET.
Faculty
ITAM has 239 professors and researchers, 85 percent of whom are full-time professors. 90 percent of the faculty have a graduate degree and 68 percent have a PhD. Furthermore, 20 percent of the professors are part of Sistema Nacional de Investigadores.
International Programs
ITAM is currently collaborating with SciencesPo in the ITAM/SciencePo Bachelor in International Relations dual program; the Tulane University in the ITAM/Tulane Executive MBA Program and the ITAM/Tulane Global Master in Business Administration; the Illinois Institute of Technology in the ITAM/IIT Master in Information Technologies and Management; the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona in the ITAM/UAB Master in European Integration; the Florida International University in the ITAM/FIU Master in Accountancy.
Honoris Causa degrees
Some of the Honoris Causa degrees awarded by the ITAM include:
David Rockefeller, prominent American banker, philanthropist, and world statesman.
Arnold Harberger, American economist.
Miguel Mancera, Mexican economist.
Pedro Aspe Armella, Mexican economist.
Plácido Arango, Mexican businessman.
Research
As a research university, ITAM has several centers dedicated to economics, law, political science, foreign affairs and business. Some include:
Centro de Análisis e Investigación Económica (CAIE) - Research on Mexican economy
Centro de Economía Aplicada y de Políticas Públicas (CEAPP) - Public policy research
Centro de Estadística Aplicada - Applied Statistics
Centro de Estudios Alonso Lujambio (CEAL) - Electoral studies, Transparency, and Parliamentary Studies
Centro de Estudios de Competitividad (CEC) - Competition research
Centro de Estudios de Derecho Privado - Private law
Centro de Estudios de Derecho Público - Public law
Centro de Estudios y Programas Interamericanos (CEPI) - Inter-American studies
Centro de Evaluación Socioeconómica de Proyectos (CESP) - Socioeconomic project analysis
Centro Internacional para la Investigación en Pensiones - Pension research
Centro de Investigación Económica (CIE) - Basic economic research
Instituto de Estudios de la Integración Europea (IEIE) - "Research for European Integration and Relations with Latin America"
Proyecto sobre Filantropía y Sociedad Civil - "Project on Philanthropy and Civil Society"
Notable alumni, faculty and staff
Alumni
Mexican presidents
Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, 56th president of Mexico (2006–2012), graduate school.
Mexican Secretaries of Finance
Agustín Carstens Carstens, General manager of the Bank of International Settlements (2017–), Governor of the Bank of Mexico (2009–2017); Secretary of Finance (2006–2009).
José Antonio Meade Kuribreña, Presidential nominee for the PRI (2018); Secretary of Finance (2016–2017); Secretary of Social Development (2015–2016); Secretary of Foreign Affairs (2012–2015); Secretary of Finance (2011–2012); Secretary of Energy (2011).
Luis Videgaray Caso, Secretary of Foreign Affairs (2016–2018); Secretary of Finance (2012–2016).
Ernesto Javier Cordero Arroyo, Senator of Mexico (2012–2018); President of the Senate (2012–2013, 2017–2018); Secretary of Finance (2009–2011); Secretary of Social Development (2011).
Francisco Gil Díaz, Secretary of Finance (2000–2006).
Pedro Aspe Armella, Secretary of Finance (1988–1994).
Gustavo Petricioli Iturbide, Secretary of Finance (1986–1988).
Other secretaries in the Mexican Government
Alonso Lujambio Irazábal, former secretary of public education (2006–2012) and Senator of Mexico (2012).
Alejandro Poiré Romero, former secretary of the interior (2011–2012) and current dean of the National School of Social Sciences and government at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.
Faculty
Some famous faculty members include:
Guillermo Ortiz Martínez
Pedro Aspe Armella
Denise Dresser
Francisco Gil Díaz
Luis Carlos Ugalde
Hector Zagal
Ernesto Piedras Feria
Rossana Fuentes Berain
Rafael Fernández de Castro
Jesús Silva Herzog Márquez
Olga Pellicer
José Ramón Cossío
Catherine Mansell Carstens
Romeo Ortega
Maria Marván Laborde