National University of the South
Encyclopedia
The National Southern University (Universidad Nacional del Sur) is the largest national university
in southern Argentina
. Its motto is Ardua Veritatem, which means "truth is obtained by effort".
The university was founded on January 5, 1956, and absorbed what had been the Technological Institute of the South, a former National University of La Plata affiliate established in 1946. Located in the city of Bahía Blanca
, the school became the seventh in Argentina's national university system.
The new institution organized its academic structure into Departments, instead of the traditional Schools. Departments have a smaller administrative structure and allow for knowledge flexibility and inter-disciplinarity. Thus, academic units do not have to create for their careers those courses given at other departments, so that students can take them at the corresponding departments. The first Departments were Accountancy, Economics, Physics, Geology and Geography, Mathematics, Engineering, Humanities, and Chemistry.
After just a month of its opening, two students who had begun their careers at the Institute, Jorge Laurent and David Tomás Prieto, took the exams for the last courses, thus becoming the first graduates in the institution. The first woman to obtain her degree at the UNS was Betty Kerlleñevich, from Bahía Blanca , one of the founding students of the ITS, who also obtained a degree in engineering.
At the intersection of 12 de Octubre and San Juan streets, are the buildings for the Departments of Humanities, Economics, Geography and Tourism, and Administration Sciences.
In the area known as "Altos del Palihue" there is another complex where the Departments of Agronomy and Law are located. There, the university has several acres of land, in which the Escuela de Agricultura y Ganadería “Ing. Agr. Adolfo J. Zabala” is also located.
The building located at Colon 80 originally corresponded to the headquarters of the Universidad Nacional del Sur. At present, the activities of the President's Office and its Secretariats are focused here, together with other administrative offices.
At Alem 925 is the "Casa de la Cultura", a colonial mansion that was formerly the center of an important villa. In this building, the General Secretariat of Communication and Culture organizes artistic and cultural activities. The University Foundation (FUNS) and Publishing House (EdiUNS) are also located there. In the buildings located at 11 de Abril 445 are the Escuela Superior de Comercio, Escuela de EGB (Initial Level, Levels 1, 2, and 3) and Escuela Normal Superior.
Currently, it includes sixteen departments:
National university
A national university is generally a university created or run by a government, but which at the same time operates autonomously without direct oversight or control by the state. Some national universities are closely associated with national cultural or political aspirations...
in southern Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Its motto is Ardua Veritatem, which means "truth is obtained by effort".
The university was founded on January 5, 1956, and absorbed what had been the Technological Institute of the South, a former National University of La Plata affiliate established in 1946. Located in the city of Bahía Blanca
Bahía Blanca
Bahía Blanca is a city located in the south-west of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and seat of government of Bahía Blanca Partido. It has a population of 274,509 inhabitants according to the...
, the school became the seventh in Argentina's national university system.
History
The Instituto Tecnológico del Sur was created on October 9, 1946 by Provincial Act No. 5051, and it began its activities under the academic dependence on the Universidad Nacional de La Plata. In 1947, the Nation and the province Buenos Aires [Frente del Edificio de Alem] signed an agreement that stated that both of them would supply the funds for the operation and maintenance of the institute. On February 12, 1948, the incumbent president, Juan D. Perón, appointed Dr. Miguel López Francés as President of the University, who was in charge of adopting the necessary measures for the organization thereof. The official inauguration ceremony of the ITS was held on February 20, 1948. The category of university was granted in 1950, however, it was cancelled in 1952, and it depended again on the Ministry of Economy of the Nation. The first graduate of the Institute was Engineer Nereo Roberto Parro, in 1953, who was a natural of the town of Tornquist. In 1955, after the fall of Perón's government, Professor Pedro González Prieto was appointed auditor of the institute, and proceedings before the national government began for the institute to become a national university. After the studies carried out by an advisor committee appointed by the Executive Power, the creation of the Universidad Nacional del Sur was approved by decree law No. 154, dated January 5, 1956.The Universidad Nacional del Sur
In 1956 Professor Vicente Fatone was appointed Auditor President. Classes at the brand new institution began on April 1 of that same year. The UNS was the seventh national university created in the country, after the universities of Córdoba (1613), La Plata (1890), Tucumán (1912), Litoral (1919), and Cuyo (1939).The new institution organized its academic structure into Departments, instead of the traditional Schools. Departments have a smaller administrative structure and allow for knowledge flexibility and inter-disciplinarity. Thus, academic units do not have to create for their careers those courses given at other departments, so that students can take them at the corresponding departments. The first Departments were Accountancy, Economics, Physics, Geology and Geography, Mathematics, Engineering, Humanities, and Chemistry.
After just a month of its opening, two students who had begun their careers at the Institute, Jorge Laurent and David Tomás Prieto, took the exams for the last courses, thus becoming the first graduates in the institution. The first woman to obtain her degree at the UNS was Betty Kerlleñevich, from Bahía Blanca , one of the founding students of the ITS, who also obtained a degree in engineering.
Campus and facilities
The main university complex is located at Alem 1253, where most of the Departments and laboratories operate as well as the Central Library. It is a large building that takes up more than a block and at the front there is a fountain with a sculpture by the artist Lola Mora. There are other buildings at the same premises:At the intersection of 12 de Octubre and San Juan streets, are the buildings for the Departments of Humanities, Economics, Geography and Tourism, and Administration Sciences.
In the area known as "Altos del Palihue" there is another complex where the Departments of Agronomy and Law are located. There, the university has several acres of land, in which the Escuela de Agricultura y Ganadería “Ing. Agr. Adolfo J. Zabala” is also located.
The building located at Colon 80 originally corresponded to the headquarters of the Universidad Nacional del Sur. At present, the activities of the President's Office and its Secretariats are focused here, together with other administrative offices.
At Alem 925 is the "Casa de la Cultura", a colonial mansion that was formerly the center of an important villa. In this building, the General Secretariat of Communication and Culture organizes artistic and cultural activities. The University Foundation (FUNS) and Publishing House (EdiUNS) are also located there. In the buildings located at 11 de Abril 445 are the Escuela Superior de Comercio, Escuela de EGB (Initial Level, Levels 1, 2, and 3) and Escuela Normal Superior.
Currently, it includes sixteen departments:
- AgronomyAgronomyAgronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
- BiochemistryBiochemistryBiochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
- BiologyBiologyBiology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
- ChemistryChemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
- Computer scienceComputer scienceComputer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
- EconomicsEconomicsEconomics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
- Electrical engineeringElectrical engineeringElectrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
- EngineeringEngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
- GeographyGeographyGeography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
- GeologyGeologyGeology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
- HumanitiesHumanitiesThe humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
- LawLawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
- ManagementManagementManagement in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
- MathematicsMathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
- MedicineMedicineMedicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- PhysicsPhysicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...