UP Campus: Guadalajara

Hugo Briseño Ramírez holds a Ph.D. in Economic and Administrative Sciences with a concentration in Public Policy from the University of Guadalajara; a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from El Colegio de Sonora; a Master’s degree in Valuation from the University of Guadalajara; a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Finance from the Universidad Panamericana; and a specialization in Fintech from the Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles (IEB) in Madrid.

Level 1 member of the National System of Researchers (S.N.I.I.), with several scientific publications indexed in the Scopus database. Author of the books *Financial Indicators Made Easy* and *Econometrics in Your Language*. He passed the CFA Institute Level 1 exam and is certified by the biometric sensor company iMotions in human behavior research.

He is the Director of the Center for Hydro-Adaptive Cities at the Universidad Panamericana. He served as Secretary of Research for the School of Economics and Business at the Guadalajara campus. He was head of the Academy of Finance at the same institution. He worked as a coordinator in the Secretariat of Planning, Administration, and Finance of the Jalisco State Government.

At the Universidad Panamericana , he teaches courses in finance and economics at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. His research interests focus on quantitative methods applied to the analysis of public policy issues, urban water management, and asset valuation. He also provides consulting services to companies.

He is a member of the Jalisco Water Academic Council and the Santiago River Basin Council, and has served as an advisor to the SIAPA Tariff Commission, as well as to various government agencies and the State Legislature, on water-related issues.

At IMEF, he served as president of the Guadalajara chapter and as vice president of the Editorial Board of *News IMEF* magazine. He has also served as an advisor to the institute’s national presidency, providing strategic insight to senior management.

Research Areas

• Quantitative Methods Applied to the Analysis of Public Affairs
• Water Management for Urban Use
• Asset Valuation

Elías Olivares Benítez is a professor of Industrial Engineering at Universidad Panamericana, since 2016, Tenured D category since 2022. He holds a bachelor's degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Instituto Politécnico Nacional. He holds a master's degree in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University. He holds a master's degree in Manufacturing Systems and a PhD in Engineering Sciences from Tecnológico de Monterrey. He worked as a process and quality engineer in Steel, Heat Treatment and Quality Laboratories at TAMSA (Veracruz). He was professor of Industrial Engineering at Tecnológico de Monterrey (Campus Aguascalientes) and at UPAEP University (Puebla). He has research interests in optimization, metaheuristics, supply chain management, and sustainability. He has scientific publications in several international journals. He is a former president of the Mexican Society of Operations Research, and a level 2 member of the National System of Researchers.

Research Areas

• Operations Management: Logistics, Metaheuristics, Optimization, and Supply Chains

Edgar Demetrio Tovar García, PhD (SNII II), is a Tenured Researcher (D) specializing in Applied Econometrics, with research interests at the intersection of the Economics of Education, International Economics, International Business, Development Studies, and Sustainability. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Barcelona. His academic and international career includes a postdoctoral fellowship at UNAM, a research fellowship at the University of Tampere (Finland), and professional experience at the World Bank, along with a solid academic foundation from HSE University in Moscow, Russia. His research employs longitudinal models and decomposition techniques to analyze determinants of human capital and macroeconomic dynamics in emerging markets, with publications in high-impact journals (Q1/Q2) such as *Post-Communist Economies*, *Economics of Innovation and New Technology*, and the *Journal of Education and Work*. He currently serves as an Academic Editor for PLOS ONE and is an expert reviewer for the Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technology, and Innovation (SECIHTI). Her current research agenda includes the econometric analysis of the gender gap in entrepreneurship and the impact of institutional frameworks on business development, with a special emphasis on studying the critical dimensions of the “dark side” of entrepreneurship in transition economies.

Research Areas

• Economics and Applied Econometrics
• International Economy
• International Business and Business Economics
• Entrepreneurship
• Economics of Education

Research Professor Carolina Del-Valle-Soto is a distinguished international scholar and scientist in the field of information and communications technologies, born in Medellín, Colombia. She holds a degree in Electronic Engineering from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana and a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering (Telecommunications) and a Ph.D. in Information and Communication Technologies from Tecnológico de Monterrey, both earned with honors for academic excellence; she also stood out as the valedictorian of her graduate class.

She currently serves as a Tenured Research Professor (Level D) at the Universidad Panamericana, Guadalajara campus, where she is actively involved in training high-level talent, directing research projects, and providing academic leadership, including her role as Deputy Director of the Doctoral Committee in Engineering.

His academic career has a distinctly international focus, with teaching and research experience at institutions such as the Universidad del Istmo in Guatemala and the Politecnico di Torino in Italy, as well as collaboration with global scientific networks.

She has been an evaluator for the European Commission in the area of Frontier Technologies since 2019, an associate editor for international scientific journals, and a senior member of the IEEE, all of which reflect her recognition within the global scientific community. Her research interests include wireless sensor networks, the Internet of Things, information security, artificial intelligence, and robotics applied to healthcare, with implications for smart cities and cyber-physical systems.

She has a high-impact scientific record that includes more than a hundred publications, contributing significantly to the development of efficient energy models, resilient network protocols, and innovative solutions for digital health. She is also the inventor of several technology patents and has led interdisciplinary projects with academic, industrial, and social impact. She is further recognized for her work in training graduate researchers by advising theses in areas such as artificial intelligence and intelligent systems; her career is marked by a strong commitment to academic excellence, technological innovation, and international collaboration.

Research Areas

• Wireless Sensor Networks
• Robotics for Healthcare
• Internet of Things
• Information Security
• Energy Models

Ph.D. in Organizational Management from UPAEP. Honorable Mention for Research, Magna Cum Laude, and the Dr. Abelardo Sánchez Gutiérrez Award. MBA from IPADE with an Excellence Scholarship.

He studied LAE at UDLAP, where he received a Mary Street Jenkins Excellence Scholarship. He was the recipient of the Jaguar Award for the top student. He has worked for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores in Washington, D.C., and was a fellow at the U.S. Congress. He worked at Citibank-Banamex and has also served as an advisor and consultant to various companies, including Grupo LALA, Tequila Sauza, HP, and MUSTAD, among others. He is trilingual in English and Italian. He is currently Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at the Universidad Panamericana. He is a member of SIN 1 and a Full Professor (Titular B). He is the author of three books: *Dialogues Between a Philosopher and a Millennial* (SER Editorial), *Introduction to Negotiation* (Pearson Editorial), and *Manual for the Use of the Case Method for Undergraduate Students* (EUNSA), as well as *When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Director* (Universo de Letras). “

Research Areas

• Business Organization and Management

Professor Alejandro Rodríguez Magaña received a master’s degree in Financial Economics from the University of Santiago de Chile in 2003 and a Ph.D. in Administrative Sciences from the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico in 2005. He has completed various specialized programs at the School of Business Administration ( Universidad Panamericana ) and the Institute of Stock Market Studies (Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles) in Madrid, as well as the D-1 program at the Pan-American Institute of Senior Business Management. Since 1996, he has been a tenured faculty member at the Universidad Panamericana in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he holds the rank of Full Professor in the School of Business. He is also General Administrator of the Universidad Panamericana in Guadalajara and a Level 1 member of the National System of Researchers (through Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology). In 2019, he served as President of the Mexican Institute of Finance Executives in Guadalajara.

His research interests are in working capital in higher education institutions, as well as financial education.

Research Areas

• Education from an Economic and Financial Perspective
• Corporate Finance and Personal Finance

Dr. Abraham Mendoza Andrade holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Guadalajara ( Universidad Panamericana), Guadalajara Campus. He earned a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Pennsylvania State University.

In addition, he has completed courses in leadership and executive management at Harvard Business School and IPADE.

Since 2000, he has worked at the Universidad Panamericana, holding various leadership positions. At the corporate level, he is a member of the Board of Trustees and served as Vice President for Research.

Throughout his academic and professional career, Dr. Abraham Mendoza has received numerous awards and honors. During his doctoral studies, he was awarded the Ridg-U-Rak scholarship by the Material Handling Education Foundation for his outstanding academic performance. In 2015, he was recognized as the most outstanding professional of the year by the Mexican Institute of Industrial Engineers. In 2016, he received the “Manuel López Cotilla” Award from Jaltec for his outstanding contributions to education and for fostering partnerships between industry, academia, and government. In 2017, he was recognized as a Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD Award) by the Society for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Mendoza has never strayed from his two great passions: teaching and research. He is a Full Professor (D), the highest rank in our institution’s Faculty Rankings System, and he is also a Level 1 member of the National System of Researchers, as designated by the Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technology, and Innovation (Secihti).

He has been married to his wife Marisol for 23 years and is the father of six children: Abraham, Santiago, Josemaría, Emilio, Ana Paula, and Mateo.

Dr. Mendoza is the first alumnus of the Universidad Panamericana, Guadalajara campus, to assume the position of Rector.

Research Areas

• Operations Modeling and Optimization.