Central University of Ecuador

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Central University of Ecuador
Universidad Central del Ecuador
Escudo de la Universidad Central del Ecuador - Andres Agual.png
MottoOmnium potentior est sapientia
Motto in English
Wisdom is the most powerful of all
TypePublic
EstablishedSeptember 5, 1620;405 years ago (1620-09-05) [1] [2]
Founders Society of Jesus (royal charter of Philip III of Spain) [3]
President Patricio Espinosa del Pozo (2024– ) [4] [5]
Students29,993 (QS) [6]
Location,
CampusUrban; main campus: Ciudadela Universitaria (Av. América) [7] [8]
Affiliations Red Ecuatoriana de Universidades para Investigación y Postgrados (REDU); CEDIA [9]
Website www.uce.edu.ec (in Spanish)
Central University of Ecuador

The Central University of Ecuador (Spanish : Universidad Central del Ecuador) is a public university in Quito, Ecuador. By institutional lineage it is among the oldest universities in the Americas: its origin lies in the royal charter of the Jesuit Real y Pontificia Universidad de San Gregorio Magno (1620), later merged (1786–1788) with the Dominican Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino to form the Crown’s Real y Pública Universidad de Santo Tomás. It was reorganized as the Universidad Central de Quito by the General Law on Public Education of 18 March 1826 during Gran Colombia, and adopted its current name by decree in 1836. [10] [11] [12]

Contents

History

Early foundations (1620–1836)

A royal cédula of 5 September 1620 authorized the Jesuit University of San Gregorio Magno in Quito; teaching began following the formal obedecimiento in 1651. [10] In 1786–1788 the Crown approved the merger of San Gregorio with the Dominican University of Santo Tomás de Aquino (founded 1686–1688), creating the Real y Pública Universidad de Santo Tomás. [13] Under Gran Colombia, the 1826 education law established Universidades Centrales in departmental capitals, reorganizing Quito’s institution as the Universidad Central de Quito; the 1836 decree formalized the current name, Universidad Central del Ecuador. [11] [12]

Republican era and campus consolidation

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the university was intermittently intervened amid political shifts, while consolidating professional faculties (notably medicine and law) and expanding into a modern urban campus on Avenida América in northern Quito. The former colonial premises now house the Metropolitan Cultural Center. [14]

Academics

UCE offers undergraduate and graduate programs across architecture and urbanism, arts, health sciences and medicine, economics, engineering, law and political sciences, education, and the natural and social sciences. The university’s integrated library system supports teaching, learning and research with discovery tools and open access services. [15]

The Centro Cultural Metropolitano in Quito, housed in the former Jesuit complex that in 1620 became the Royal and Pontifical University of San Gregorio Magno, a direct antecedent of the Central University of Ecuador. Centro Cultural Metropolitano, Quito. 05.jpg
The Centro Cultural Metropolitano in Quito, housed in the former Jesuit complex that in 1620 became the Royal and Pontifical University of San Gregorio Magno, a direct antecedent of the Central University of Ecuador.

Research, innovation and rankings

The Central University of Ecuador (UCE) maintains a broad research agenda supported by a centralized research office and a university-wide library and repository infrastructure. The Dirección de Investigación coordinates institutional programs and outlets such as the Investiga UCE science magazine and competitive calls for projects. [16] The university’s Sistema Integrado de Bibliotecas (SIB) and the open-access institutional repository (RI-UCE) provide discovery and preservation services for theses, articles and datasets. [17] [18]

Several UCE journals disseminate disciplinary research; for example, the Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas publishes peer-reviewed work in health sciences and medical education. [19] Clinical teaching and applied research are also supported by university health facilities such as the Hospital del Día (teaching day hospital). [20]

In global rankings, UCE appears in the QS World University Rankings (band #1201–1400 in 2025) and in the QS regional tables for Latin America and the Caribbean. [21] In the 2025 SCImago Institutions Rankings (Universities), UCE places within Ecuador’s top ten overall and ranks seventh nationally in the subject area of Education, reflecting visibility in research outputs and societal impact metrics. [22]

At the national level, UCE reports competitive outcomes in the licensure exams administered by the higher-education quality agency (CACES) for Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, which the university presents as evidence of academic performance in health professions education. [23]

Campus and transport

The main campus is located along Avenida América. Since 2023 the Universidad Central metro station of the Quito Metro provides direct access to the university area. [24]

Notable alumni and affiliates

See also

References

  1. Sosa Freire, Rex T. (2021). "La cédula real de 1620 y los orígenes de la Universidad San Gregorio Magno de Quito". Americanía. Revista de Estudios Latinoamericanos (in Spanish). 13: 47–80. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  2. "La cédula real del 5 de septiembre de 1620, firmada por Felipe III..." Repositorio UCE (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  3. Sosa Freire, Rex T. (2021). "La cédula real de 1620 y los orígenes de la Universidad San Gregorio Magno de Quito". Americanía (in Spanish). 13: 47–80. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  4. "Patricio Espinosa del Pozo asumió el rectorado de la Universidad Central del Ecuador". La Hora (in Spanish). 8 March 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  5. "Este es el perfil del nuevo rector de la Universidad Central del Ecuador". El Universo (in Spanish). 16 February 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  6. "Universidad Central del Ecuador". TopUniversities (QS). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  7. "Universidad Central del Ecuador — address". TopUniversities (QS). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  8. "Arquitectura: edificios de la Universidad Central del Ecuador". Mundo Diners (in Spanish). 7 May 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  9. "Nuestros miembros". CEDIA (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  10. 1 2 Sosa Freire, Rex T. (2011). "La cédula real de 1620 y los orígenes universitarios de Quito" (PDF). Americanía. Revista de Estudios Latinoamericanos (nueva época) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  11. 1 2 "Gaceta de Colombia: Ley General sobre Educación Pública (18 de marzo de 1826)". Banco de la República (Colombia) — Biblioteca Virtual (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Decreto Orgánico de Enseñanza Pública (1836), art. 7". Biblioteca del Banco Central del Ecuador (catalog record) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  13. "Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino (Quito): notas históricas y estudiantes". ResearchGate (preprint/working paper) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  14. "Centro Cultural Metropolitano de Quito — About". Municipio de Quito (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  15. "Sistema Integrado de Bibliotecas (SIB)". Universidad Central del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  16. "Dirección de Investigación". Universidad Central del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  17. "Sistema Integrado de Bibliotecas (SIB)". Universidad Central del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  18. "Repositorio Digital UCE". Universidad Central del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  19. "Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas (Quito)". Universidad Central del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  20. "Hospital del Día — UCE". Universidad Central del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  21. "Universidad Central del Ecuador — Rankings & Profile". TopUniversities (QS). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  22. "SCImago Institutions Rankings — Education — Ecuador (Universities) 2025". SCImago. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  23. "La excelencia académica de la UCE es ratificada por el CACES (resultados EHEP)". Universidad Central del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  24. "Metro de Quito construirá un acceso a la Universidad Central". Quito Metro (in Spanish). 20 November 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  25. "Gabriel García Moreno". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  26. "Jerónimo Carrión". Enciclopedia del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  27. "José Mejía Lequerica — síntesis biográfica" (PDF). Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  28. "Francisco Javier Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  29. "Isidro Ayora". Biografías y Vidas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  30. "José María Velasco Ibarra". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  31. Ordóñez Cifuentes, María Gabriela (2012). "Quinto período de la presidencia de José María Velasco Ibarra (1968–1972)". Repositorio UCE (Universidad Central del Ecuador) (in Spanish). p. 51. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  32. "Benjamín Carrión Mora". Enciclopedia del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  33. "Benjamín Carrión". Biografías y Vidas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  34. "Oswaldo Guayasamín, biografía" (PDF). Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales (Uruguay) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  35. "Oswaldo Guayasamín". Museo Nacional de Arte/INBAL (México) (in Spanish). 1 July 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  36. "50 años de la Facultad de Artes de la UCE". Universidad Central del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  37. "Eduardo Kingman". Arts of the Americas – Organization of American States. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  38. "50 años de la Facultad de Artes de la UCE". Universidad Central del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  39. "Pedro Vicente Maldonado y Sotomayor". Real Academia de la Historia (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  40. "Padre Juan de Velasco". Enciclopedia del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  41. "Juan de Velasco". Real Academia de la Historia (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  42. "Rvdo. Jacinto Morán de Butrón". Enciclopedia del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  43. "Juan Bautista Aguirre". Real Academia de la Historia (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  44. "Juan Bautista Aguirre". Ministerio de Cultura y Patrimonio del Ecuador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2025.

0°11′58″S78°30′18″W / 0.1995°S 78.5051°W / -0.1995; -78.5051