UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA
DE NUEVO LEÓN

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History

The Facultad de Economía of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León was established in 1957 as part of the Facultad de Contaduría y Administración, with its first Director being C.P. Ramón Cárdenas Coronado. The Bachelor’s in Economics degree offered in its first year closely followed the model of the Escuela Nacional de Economía at UNAM. For this emerging school, in addition to the inherent challenges of replicating the UNAM model, there was the added difficulty of lacking any economists among its faculty: classes were taught by lawyers and accountants. 

Given this situation, the Director requested the support of Don Rodrigo Gómez, then Director of the Bank of Mexico, to strengthen the Facultad. 

Don Rodrigo appointed Ms. Consuelo Meyer L’Eppé, an economist at the Bank of Mexico, to lead this new effort, and she arrived in Monterrey in 1957 with the intention of establishing what could become “one of the best schools of economics in the country and even in Latin America.” She assumed the Directorship of the Facultad de Economía and committed to remaining at its helm until the first generation graduated in 1963. 

Ms. Meyer graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Economía in 1946 and had taken courses at the Escuela Nacional de Jurisprudencia, the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, and the Escuela Nacional de Antropología at UNAM. She pursued postgraduate studies in economics at the University of London in England. In 1956, she was commissioned by the Bank of Mexico to lead a course in Economic Analysis at the University of Chile. 

Upon arriving in the city, she immediately recognized the need to rethink the recently launched teaching model. With unwavering determination and great persuasive ability, she managed to convince more than 60 students to forgo the credits earned in the school’s first year and restart their studies under a new program. Initially, there were both morning and evening shifts, but the latter was discontinued a year later. 

In Ms. Meyer’s own words: “My project lacked originality; the novelty was in putting it into practice in Mexico, in a provincial school, and securing the means required to do so. Essentially, it was about creating, from extremely limited circumstances, a full-time, well-paid, and competent faculty; establishing a suitable process for selecting students and requiring them to dedicate themselves exclusively to studying — with scholarships, as much as possible —; implementing a curriculum focused on a few but well-taught subjects; forming a good, properly managed library; and strictly adhering to course programs, calendars, and work schedules.” 

The project was approved by Don Rodrigo Gómez, who offered additional support from the Bank of Mexico. His generous support was joined by that of Don Daniel Cosío Villegas and Don Víctor L. Urquidi. The former, in addition to advising on the curriculum design, agreed to serve as honorary director of the Facultad. 

During the institution’s formative stage, the collaboration of Don Víctor L. Urquidi was decisive. In addition to his technical advice, he carried out outstanding promotional work, which resulted in the recruitment of excellent faculty and the acquisition of research projects. 

All graduates of the Facultad de Economía recognize the work of Ms. Meyer, and the vast majority even consider that the true founding of the school occurred in 1958, when Ms. Meyer’s project began operating. In her honor, the Facultad’s library bears her name. 

Today, her project continues to train economists with solid foundations in economic theory, statistics, and quantitative methods, enabling them to develop analytical thinking, critical spirit, a strong work discipline, and sensitivity to the economic problems of society—equipping them to act effectively across various professional fields. 

Additionally, Maestra Consuelo Meyer, Director of the Facultad de Economía, had the vision to promote the creation of the Centro de Investigaciones Económicas (CIE), with the aim of supporting both theoretical and applied economic research to benefit the public and private sectors of northeastern Mexico (Nuevo León, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas). Among its objectives was to contribute to the academic program of the Facultad de Economía by connecting its faculty and students with the economic and social realities of the region. The first Director of the CIE was Lic. Manuel Rodríguez Cisneros, an economist from the Bank of Mexico. Today, the CIE carries out economic consulting and research at the national level and offers four products to the public free of charge: Ensayos Revista de Economía, the Economic Environment Indicators bulletin, the development and publication of the Consumer Price Index for the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, and an Economic Calendar for public consultation. It also allows students from the Facultad to participate in the center’s research projects. 

Over the years, the Facultad has been located in four campuses: Casa de las Águilas and Abasolo, both in the Barrio Antiguo; Loma Larga; and, most recently, since 2008, in the Mederos campus—all located in Monterrey. 

Currently, four academic programs are offered: the Bachelor’s in Economics, the Master’s in Finance, the Master’s in Economics with a specialization in Industrial Economics, and the Ph.D. in Economic Sciences.