That the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador's first rector on its foundation in 1946 was the writer Aurelio Espinosa Polit while the dean of its single faculty of law, was former foreign minister Julio Tobar Donoso reflects the focus of the university which remain relevant to this day.
The annual award of the Aurelio Espinosa Polit prize for literature remains a significant moment, not only for the university, but in national cultural life. And its contribution to national politics includes three presidents – one, Fabian Alarcon, was succeeded by another, Jamil Mahuad, in 1998 . Other political alumni include Ana Lucia Armijos, Ecuador’s first female Minister of the Interior and Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the United Nations General Assembly for 2018-9 session.
Founded in 1946 in Quito by the Society of Jesus, which continues to run it, PUCE has since expanded to Ibarra (1976), Esmeraldas (1981), Ambato (1982), Manabi (1993) Santo Domingo de las Colorados (1996) and Nayon (2018). Pontifical status was conferred by the Vatican in 1963, and it was visited by Pope Francis in 2015.
Inspired by "Christian principals before God", it aims to be "a benchmark in comprehensive and inclusive training with social impact". Its 14 schools and faculties include the first medical school in a private university in Ecuador, created in 1994, while the graduate offer includes master's courses in three separate disciplines of psychology.
Its QCA Herbarium has the largest collection of plants in Ecuador (250,000) while recent discoveries from the research station at Yasuni in the Ecuadorian Amazon include a tree frog with unusual claws.
Collaboration with the Universidad Catolica del Ecuador has taken the distinctive dimension of leasing UCE the land on which it is building a new stadium for its First Division football team.
