In his inaugural lecture to El Colegio Nacional in Mexico City on Wednesday afternoon, University of Miami President Julio Frenk explored the transformations taking place in health care and higher education, which share profound synergies that can reinforce and promote social progress and prosperity.
Considered one of the foremost physicians and specialists in public health, Frenk has focused his research primarily on health care systems and the relationships between health and globalization.
“It is an honor to be recognized by El Colegio Nacional, and to continue nurturing the fruits of my professional career, all of which is rooted in Mexico,” Frenk said during his lecture, “Health and Higher Education: A Time of Transitions,” a thoughtful synthesis of two themes that have bridged his career in academia and public health.
Frenk’s election to El Colegio Nacional was announced in November, making him the 101st lifetime member of the academy established in 1943 to bring leading artists and scholars together to promote Mexican culture and scholarship under the motto “Freedom through knowledge.”
A graduate of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Frenk served as Mexico’s minister of health from 2000 to 2006 and was the founding director of Mexico’s National Public Health Institute. Since then, Frenk has been recognized as the leading champion of structural change of health care in Mexico and other countries.
A cultural community in service to society, El Colegio Nacional has assembled leading talents in philosophy, science, humanities, arts and literature. The institution offers lectures, conferences, symposiums, exhibits and various cultural activities around Mexico, while maintaining archives of its members’ works. The members admitted before Frenk have collectively received 69 national awards in science and arts, three Mexican Nobel prizes, six Prince of Asturias awards, two UNESCO science awards, four Cervantes awards, among others.
Frenk previously served as dean of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University, executive vice president of the Mexican Health Foundation and executive director of scientific evidence and information for policy at the World Health Organization.
