National Autonomous University of Mexico

Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez is a Mexican chemist and one of the most prominent precursors to the discovering of the Antarctic... ozone hole. He was a co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in elucidating the threat to the Earth's ozone layer of chlorofluorocarbon gases , becoming the first Mexican-born citizen to ever receive a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Molina is the son of Roberto Molina Pasquel, a lawyer and diplomat who went on to serve as chief Ambassador to Ethiopia, Australia and the Philippines in 1923, and Leonor Henríquez de Molina. After completing his basic studies in Mexico City and Switzerland he earned a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1965, a postgraduate degree from the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, West Germany, in 1967 and a doctoral degree in Chemistry from University of California, Berkeley in 1972.
more

Alfonso García Robles was a Mexican diplomat and politician who, in conjunction with Sweden's Alva Myrdal, received the Nobel Peace Prize in... 1982. García Robles was born in Zamora, Michoacán, and trained in law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico before joining his country's foreign service in 1939. He served as a delegate to the 1945 San Francisco Conference that established the United Nations. He was ambassador to Brazil from 1962 to 1964, and was state secretary to the ministry of foreign affairs from 1964 to 1970. In 1971-75 he served as his country's representative to the United Nations before an appointment as foreign minister in 1975-76. He was then appointed as Mexico's permanent representative to the Committee on Disarmament. García Robles received the peace prize as the driving force behind the Treaty of Tlatelolco, setting up a nuclear-free zone in Latin America and the Caribbean. The agreement was signed in 1967 by most states in the region, though some states took some time to ratify the agreement. He was admitted to the Colegio Nacional in 1972.
more

Octavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1990... Nobel Prize for Literature. Paz was born to Octavio Paz Solórzano and Josefina Lozano. His father was an active supporter of the Revolution against the Díaz regime. Paz was raised in the village of Mixcoac by his mother Josefina , his aunt Amalia Paz, and his paternal grandfather Ireneo Paz, a liberal intellectual, novelist, publisher and former supporter of President Porfirio Díaz. He studied at Colegio Williams. Because of his family's public support of Emiliano Zapata, they were forced into exile after Zapata's assassination. They served their exile in the United States. Paz was introduced to literature early in his life through the influence of his grandfather's library, filled with classic Mexican and European literature. During the 1920s, he discovered the European poets Gerardo Diego, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Antonio Machado, Spanish writers who had a great influence on his early writings.
more

Carlos Fuentes Macías was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are The Death of Artemio Cruz , Aura , The Old Gringo and... Christopher Unborn . In his obituary, the New York Times described him as "one of the most admired writers in the Spanish-speaking world" and an important influence on "El Boom", the "explosion of Latin American literature in the 1960s and '70s", while The Guardian called him "Mexico's most celebrated novelist". His many literary honors include the Miguel de Cervantes Prize as well as Mexico's highest award, the Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor. He was often named as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, though he never won. Fuentes was born in Panama City to Berta Macías and Rafael Fuentes, the latter of whom was a Mexican diplomat. As the family moved for his father's career, Fuentes spent his childhood in various Latin American capital cities, an experience he later described as giving him the ability to view Latin America as a critical outsider. From 1934 to 1940, Fuentes' father was posted to the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C.
more