The Conferment Ceremony was held on the morning of Wednesday, November 4, to grant a honorary degree to the architect Agustin Hernandez Navarro, last representative of the great Mexican architects of the 20th century.

A 6-year-old man was received by the President's Committee, university authorities, and directors of Schools in the main hall auditorium of our south campus. For decades, he has contributed to the education of numerous generations of young architects in the School of Architecture of the Anahuac in Mexico City.

His personal, professional, and academic merits, as well as being an exceptional Mexican who has stood out in the architecture arena at international level, are the reasons why our University has awarded Arch. Agustin Hernandez Navarro with the highest recognition.

The architect's works bear his mark with pre-Columbian elements, demonstrating a real commitment to our country and its history. He brilliantly mixes it with a timeless architecture where symbolism plays an essential role.

His work is Mexican and universal at the same time, an example of the roots of Mexico's past mingling with the future. The Heroic Military College is one of his great works. It was inspired by the archaeological sites of Monte Alban, in the state of Oaxaca, and Teotihuacan in the state of Mexico.

Architect Bernardo Gomez-Pimienta, PhD, director of the School of Architecture, in his capacity as sponsor, delivered the Laudatio before presenting our laureate.

Agustin Hernandez was recognized as one of the great architects of modern Mexico, along with his work sharing that privileged knowledge with his students at our School of Architecture.

“Since completing your major and graduating with honors in 1954, your path was already mapped out. 1954 was a special year, not only because classes started in that brand new University City. It also witnessed the professional beginnings of one of the most important Mexican architects in the 20th century. Your hard work made the awards came one after another ", Dr. Gomez-Pimienta said.

He also recalled that the current situation demands our best and “what a better example than recognizing one of the architects who shaped Mexico during the 20th century and led us to the 21st century. Thank you for giving us so much, Agustin, and for being an extraordinary example of our motto 'overcome evil with good'.”

For his part, Mr. Agustin Hernandez Navarro expressed his gratefulness and delightfulness in receiving this honor, which he described as “the pinnacle of all the awards I have received.” Likewise, he acknowledged the many minds and hands who have contributed to his work as architect.

“I also want to thank those master builders, those construction workers who have sacrificed and risked their lives, sometimes even at gigantic heights. My work has been a permanent search for the new, the unknown, and to never fall into a style. Architecture for me requires complete dedication”, shared our laureate, who was accompanied by his children and family.

During his speech, the President of the Anahuac University in Mexico City, Dr. Cipriano Sanchez Garcia, L.C., said that “the university is the place where we strive for being in every dimension. Being unity, being truth, being good, being beauty. This search is what makes a university, beyond a simple transmitter of knowledge.”

He also noted that the University grants honorary degrees to those who have made a contribution with their work. “You tell us about this search in the cultural references you have inherited, when looking at the pre-Columbian heart in your projects. You invite us to embrace the being that gave meaning to the Mesoamerican peoples. You teach us that a tree cannot just be old roots, but also a new flower in spring.”

He also recognized in him a Mexican proud of his roots, inspired by the forms and symbolisms of pre-Columbian structures to create bold sculptural buildings in which architecture, geometry, painting, and technique come together. It is the conjunction of the past and the future what makes us reflect about the identity in each of his works.

"Let me quote when you said: 'Today's architecture must have something from the past, but much more from the future'. Therefore, your contribution to Mexican architecture is immensely valuable, as reflected in the countless distinctions you have received throughout your long life and that we have already mentioned. You have created buildings that are milestones of Mexican architecture, with great aesthetic quality, and without forgetting the human quality and well-being for their occupants”.

Lastly, he said that at Anahuac Mr. Hernandez has raised the eyes of young people towards beauty, their hearts towards magnificence, generations of architects who had been privileged to learn with him. 

"The University not only educates great people, it also becomes great with the people in it sharing their own search for being, and do so with the excellence of their great professional practice, reflecting the vocation of sharing their experience and knowledge to nurture the spirit of our youth. It only remains for me to thank you for being part of our university community with your science, your closeness, your commitment, and now with a honorary degree from this University.”

Mr. Agustin Hernandez Navarro is emeritus professor of the National Academy of Architecture of the Society of Mexican Architects. He received the 2004 National Award in Sciences and Arts, and the 1999 National Award for Architecture. Among others, he has also received the First Prize for the Mexico Pavilion in Osaka, Japan, the Gold Medal at the Second Biennial of Mexican Architecture, the First Prize for Professional Practice from the Federation of the College of Architects of Mexico, the First Urban Land Institute Prize in Washington DC, the 2012 Anahuac Medal in Architecture, among many others.

Dr. Sonia Barnetche Frías; Academic Vice President;  Jorge Miguel Fabre Mendoza, MS, Academic Vice President; and as members of the President’s Committee, Fr. Eduardo Robles-Gil Orvañanos, L.C., Vice President for Finance; Fr. César Hernández Rendón, L.C., and Fernando Rincón Gallardo Elguero, MS, both Vice Presidents of Integral Formation;  Alfredo Nava Govela, MS, Director of the School of Economics and Business; Dr. Ricardo Sodi Cuellar, member of the President's Committee; Dr. Oliva Sánchez García, Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Services; and   Dr. Luz del Carmen Dávalos Murillo, member of the Presidents's Committee, witnessed the “Promisa Anahuac” oath, a solemn event that concluded with the Gaudeamus Igitur Hymn.

The university community congratulates Mr. Agustin Hernandez Navarro, an architect and an example of positive action leadership, for this recognition. The university is also grateful for his more than 40 years of work teaching the architects of Anahuac University and of Mexico.