Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD) was founded in the city of Concepción in 1990, as an educational project by its founders, Joaquín Lavín, Carlos Alberto Délano, Carlos Eugenio Lavín, Ernesto Silva (R.I.P.), Cristián Larroulet, Hernán Büchi and Federico Valdés, who now constitute the Executive Board.
In 1999, almost a decade after its initial fondation, the authorities decided to expand its activities to the capital, Santiago. The academic semester started that year with only 500 students.
Now, with an accelerated growth, the University has 12 faculties: Architecture and Art, Communications, Law, Design, Education and Humanistic Studies, Business and Economy, Government, Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry and Psychology, with 23 pre-graduate programs, 90 post-graduate programs and 276 Diplomates.
In terms of research, the University has 14 centers and more than 85 active researchers (14 in Concepción, 71 in Santiago, 32 of which are from the Faculty of Medicine) who participate in the generation of knowledge in different areas, such as Business and Economy, Government, Basic Sciences, Psychology and Medical Sciences, putting an emphasis on innovation and excellence.
Today, the University has 11,000 pre-graduated students – 7,000 of them in Santiago, and 1,000 in Concepción – and 2,259 post-graduate students.