The inauguration ceremony was held on Tuesday, July 28 in FEN’s Aula Magna, where the new dean received the Andrés Bello Medal.
With a ceremony held in the Aula Magna of the School of Economics and Business (FEN), Professor Óscar Landerretche Moreno began his term as dean of the school. He will lead the school for the 2026–2030 period, after prevailing in a second-round election with 54.66% of the weighted vote over Professor Alejandro Micco, in a process that recorded 89.47% turnout among the electoral body (102 voters out of a total of 114).
The ceremony was presided over by the Rector of the Universidad de Chile, Alejandra Mizala, and attended by former dean José De Gregorio, university authorities, guests, and the wider university community.
“We are receiving a school that is well ordered, institutionally balanced, well cared for, and with a growing academic reputation. That is no small legacy in a public university,” said Dean Landerretche in his inaugural address, referring to his predecessor’s leadership.
“Every peso this school administers is not ours. It belongs to Chile. It has been entrusted to us, not given to us, and that distinction should shape every spending decision, every contract, every project we undertake,” he added.
The dean said he takes office “aware that I am a temporary, transitory custodian of a legacy that reaches back into the depths of our republican history.” Landerretche set out four priorities for his term: high-quality research; the modernization of undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education teaching, including the incorporation of artificial intelligence; transparent corporate and financial management; and public engagement that builds “a real bridge between the school and the public and private sectors.” He closed his address with the stated aspiration that FEN become “one of the best economics and business schools in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking world.”
FEN AND THE BUILDING OF MODERN CHILE
During the ceremony, Rector Alejandra Mizala presented Professor Landerretche with the Andrés Bello Medal, the insignia deans are required to wear at university ceremonies.
In her address, Rector Mizala thanked Professor José De Gregorio for his leadership, which “strengthened FEN’s academic and institutional development and made a decisive contribution to projecting its standing within and beyond Chile.” She also congratulated Dean Landerretche, whose proposal, “with its emphasis on strengthening frontier research, modernizing teaching, driving efficient management, expanding internationalization, and projecting the school’s public impact, is closely aligned with the strategic priorities we have set for our University.”
“The School of Economics and Business holds a singular place in the history of the Universidad de Chile and in the building of modern Chile. Its origins express a conviction that has accompanied this school from the beginning: that economic knowledge is a highly relevant tool for expanding people’s opportunities, strengthening institutions, and contributing to the country’s development,” Rector Mizala noted.
Dean Landerretche succeeds Professor José De Gregorio, who held the position between 2018 and 2026, across the 2018–2022 and 2022–2026 terms.
Reviewing his eight years in office, De Gregorio noted that the school hired 27 full-time faculty members during the period, with two more to be added, including five full professors. He also highlighted enrollment growth of more than 40% over the past decade, reaching 4,300 students. Among the academic milestones, he mentioned the creation of the Master’s in Business Analytics, a joint program with the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and the opening of a new campus in the city’s eastern sector, in the Génesis building.
NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM
At the ceremony, Dean Landerretche introduced his new leadership team, ratified by the Faculty Council on July 7. It is made up of José Luis Ruiz as vice dean, Leslier Valenzuela as director of the Undergraduate School, Ariel La Paz as director of the Graduate School, and Dante Contreras as director of Academic Affairs and Research, together with program directors Valentina Paredes, Alicia Núñez, and Elizabeth Gutiérrez. The outgoing team was composed of professors Enrique Manzur, Javier Núñez, Jaime Miranda, and Rodrigo Uribe.