Numerary Member
Social Sciences: Doctor of Industrial Engineering
Admission date: 22 June 2026
Admission speech: “La formación universitaria como instrumento para el desarrollo de los pueblos y para la articulación de comunidades multinacionales. El proyecto de FUNIBER” (University education as an instrument for the development of peoples and for the articulation of multinational communities. The FUNIBER project)
Response by: His Excellency Dr Alfredo Rocafort Nicolau, Doctor of Economic Sciences and Doctor of Law
Notable career: Engineer and promoter of international university models, recognised for advancing distance and blended higher education as a tool for cooperation, educational access and social development within the Ibero-American sphere.
Dr. Santos Gracia Villar is a Doctor in Industrial Engineering and president of the Ibero-American University Foundation (FUNIBER), covering 35 countries.
Pioneer in the design and implementation of distance and mixed education models, he has adapted academic programs to the technical needs of multiple developing countries.
It has consolidated international cooperation networks between Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia, promoting the creation of University Networks that share an ecosystem of mutual collaboration, especially among the 900 million Spanish and Portuguese speakers.
His technical profile is supported by solid research activity. Author and co-author of numerous scientific articles in high-impact magazines and technical books.
The Creu d’Official de l’Orde d’Isabel la Catòlica, granted by the Regne d’Espanya in recognition of the social commitment of the Foundation and of the Tasca seva in the promotion of access to graduate and post-graduate training in the most disadvantaged sectors, has launched a wide scholarship program in all countries of Spanish and Portuguese language, in the Spanish language of Iberophonia.
