Elena Poniatowska: Verónica Medina

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For a woman, being a university president requires a strong sense of character as well as top-notch academic knowledge in all fields, because in Mexico, the majority of positions of responsibility almost always go to men. I remember how much Guillermo Haro was surprised that some women held leadership positions in faculties of science and technology, since he considered his field to be the humanities.

I belong to a generation in which women who wanted to enter the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) ended up in two popular schools: Philosophy and Literature and Psychology. Today, I look with admiration at the biomedical engineer and rector of the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) in Iztapalapa, Dr. Verónica Medina, sitting in front of me, waiting, and I carefully and respectfully launch into the first question:

–What motivated young Verónica to study biomedical engineering? Was it in middle school or high school that you already knew what your calling would be?

–Look, my family is large; we were eight children, six boys and two girls. It was very important to my mother that her children go to university, because my parents didn't have that education. After 1971, someone told my mother that a new university was going to be built in Iztapalapa and another in Xochimilco, and he recommended: Buy some land over there if you want your children to study there .

–Where did they live, doctor?

We lived in Mixcoac. My brothers had started studying at the Polytechnic University, and for some reason, Mom didn't choose UNAM; she wanted to explore new universities and chose UAM Iztapalapa, and built her little house in 1972 in a nearby area. We moved there because my brothers had already dropped out of school; they grew tired of traveling so far. When UAM opened, I remember that I really liked medicine.

–You wanted to save lives?

–Yes, but I also liked math and physics; those two sciences appealed to me greatly. When I finished high school, in 1976, I went to ask at UAM Iztapalapa what programs they offered; it turned out there was one called biomedical engineering, and it was brand new. At that time, only the Universidad Iberoamericana and the Universidad Metropolitana offered it. I thought: "This program combines everything I like: engineering applied to the development of medical devices, medical information, an engineering very close to clinical issues, which always fascinated me." At that moment, I decided what my profession would be, and luckily enough, I entered UAM Iztapalapa two years after it opened. I proudly belong to UAM Iztapalapa, and look, Elena, here we are 50 years later, and now I'm the first female rector of this unit."

–Throughout its history, Dr. Medina, there have always been male rectors. At UNAM, it's all men. It's truly remarkable and moving that you've seen UAM Iztapalapa rise from its foundations and that you are now the first female rector of that campus.

–Yes, the first. Many very important scientists came from other universities to create the Iztapalapa unit and were committed to its development. It was a very beautiful start we had in Iztapalapa, almost 51 years ago.

–Did you feel supported by the UNAM authorities, or do you consider yourselves to be something like younger sisters?

–Yes, they shared that idea of ​​helping to create other educational options. The UAM opened up to everyone in areas where development centers were going to be created; the UAM was created in the north, in Azcapotzalco; in the south, in Xochimilco; and in the East. It was the first public university to open in the eastern part of Mexico City. Shortly after, the UNAM opened the Faculty of Higher Studies in Zaragoza, but the first higher education option in Iztapalapa was the UAM; the intention was to generate regional development in those rather empty areas. We collaborate closely with the UNAM. The UNAM is a benchmark in terms of growth and development.

–Dr. Silvia Torres de Peimbert, always generous and alert, has attended UAM Iztapalapa events on several occasions to support it and encourage collaborative work and research.

–That's right. Astrophysicist Silvia Torres is a completely supportive researcher. I was once talking with Dr. Patricia Ávila, the secretary general of UNAM, a graduate of UAM Iztapalapa, who has also been a great supporter of ours. We agreed that for those of us who didn't have parents who attended university, the UAM gave us an enormous opportunity to access Higher Education (yes, with a capital H). Both Patricia and I agree that the UAM gave us the opportunity to grow and develop professionally. The UAM's mission in influencing the regional development of those regions where the UAM was established was transcendental, because it had a beneficial effect on the inhabitants of the surrounding areas. Men and women came to the different UAM units and found among us a higher education option very close to home.

–So, the students do come from the surrounding areas.

–Right now, yes. At first, there was a very interesting phenomenon, because the UAM wasn't that cheap. I remember that there was a financial effort needed for the people of the region, and it was the children of the academics themselves who got their start there. Among the first generations were the children of Rector Alonso Fernández, a highly renowned physicist. It was a very rich educational environment.

–How did you decide to go from research to teaching?

–That's a fascinating feature of the UAM, because it grew as an innovative project, completely different from what was offered at UNAM, as it was based on a model in which teaching and research are closely linked; that is, research is enriched by teaching, and teaching is linked to research. The UAM model is educational, and it has helped us develop critical thinking, deep knowledge, and also an interdisciplinary vision with this correlation we have in the departmental model. For us, it's important that there be interaction between fields of knowledge: biological and health sciences, sciences and arts for design, social sciences, and humanities, thereby achieving a comprehensive education for students. In our case, teaching and research are intrinsically linked, which enriches student participation. We follow this formal investigative approach that leads us to apply much of the theoretical knowledge our students master so well.

–Just listening, I can tell she must be an excellent speaker…

–Teaching always caught my attention; I enjoy teaching. When I finished my degree in biomedical engineering, I spent three years at the Cancer Institute. When a major devaluation occurred in the 1980s, after a rigorous evaluation, many professors began seeking better pay; so they hired young people who had recently graduated to become teachers.

–Did many people leave because of the devaluation?

–Yes, and we newcomers stayed and began our teaching careers; the university helped us earn master's and doctoral degrees. There was an excellent program at the UAM to prepare us for graduate studies and continue our research ties.

–Finally, Dr. Medina, you could have kept the results of your research for your personal benefit, but you decided to share it with others, because sharing knowledge is also an act of generosity, isn't it?

–Yes, I agree with you. I completed my bachelor's and master's degrees at the UAM; later, the UAM supported me to pursue a postgraduate degree and my doctorate in France, at the Université de Technolgie de Compiègne, for four years. It was an enriching experience to learn about other customs and interact with cultures that have a different way of approaching research. I received a scholarship from the French government and stayed in Compiègne. There were many Brazilians in my group, and I learned their language. There were also Chinese students, but I didn't learn their language, although I can understand it, but I learned Portuguese well, also thanks to bossa nova.

–In a country like ours, it's hard to get children and young people to tear themselves away from the television screen. Science requires curiosity and a desire for research…

–We are experiencing a challenging transition. Note that in two generations (50 years now), the expectations of university students have changed significantly, stemming from the loss of the desire to learn that previous generations had. After the pandemic, young people's ability to research in groups has been further diminished. We face a global challenge because the attention span in school is much shorter these days, and students seek quick and immediate learning. Before, I remember that a university degree was a guarantee of social mobility and a certain economic stability, but in recent years, uncertainty has to do with technological transformation. Now, a very small device gives you all the information in the world, and students lose critical thinking and logical reasoning skills. Instant information impedes research. I remember the anticipation I felt waiting for a book I ordered from the bookstore or an article I devoured, because I valued information acquired through hard work, and now young people copy without thinking.