Universidad de panama

The University of Panama was created by Presidential Decree of Harmodio Arias Madrid, on May 29, 1935. It was inaugurated on October 7 of that same year and began classes the following day with an enrollment of 175 students in the careers of Education, Commerce , Natural Sciences, Pharmacy, Pre Engineering and Law.

The University began to work in the night shift in one of the pavilions of the National Institute.

Under the administration of President Enrique A. Jiménez, the government bought around 60 hectares in the El Cangrejo neighborhood, which it earmarked for the construction of a university campus and the "Melchor Lasso De La Vega" School of Arts and Crafts.

The first stone of the University was laid on October 2, 1947 and on October 9 President Enrique A. Jiménez and the first rector of the University of Panama, Octavio Méndez Pereira decided to move the monument to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra from the Plaza de Cervantes, then Plaza Porras, to the new Campus, next to what would be the Library and Administration building.

A competition for the campus master plan was held and the architectural firm of Ricardo J. Bermúdez, Octavio Méndez Guardia and Guillermo De Roux won the same, designed the first buildings. The works were directed by the engineer Alberto De Saint Malo, who was the dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture. The works began in January 1948 and on May 29, 1950 classes began with the first four buildings: Administration and Library, Humanities, Engineering and Architecture and Science Laboratory.

On the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Republic, the rector Octavio Méndez Pereira officially inaugurated the Campus on November 1, 1953.

Construction work on sidewalks, canopies and buildings continued and by 1960 there were already 11 additional buildings, including those for Biochemistry, Pharmacy and Public Administration and Commerce. In the following decade, 1960-1970, the Campus gained 15 buildings, including Dentistry and Law, and the Experimental Center for Agricultural Research was built in Tocumen. 

In the 1970-1980 decade, 17 buildings were built (Biology, Specialized Analysis Laboratory, Architecture, Engineering, another for Humanities, Simón Bolívar Inter-American Library and Student Facilities) and the DEXA and Channel Once buildings were purchased. At the end of 1979, the University of Panama received the facilities of the Rainbow City High School in Colón, where the Colón Regional University Center began to operate. In 1972 the Ministry of Education and AID signed a loan for the construction of the first Regional University Centers of Chiriquí and Veraguas. In the following decade, the Regional Centers of Azuero and Coclé and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences in Chiriquí and several buildings for the Regional University Centers of Veraguas and Chiriquí were built.

In the decade between 1990 and 2000, the Panama Oeste Regional Center and 4 research buildings were built on the Campus. In 1999, the Interoceanic Region Authority transferred to the University of Panama the facilities of the Curundu High School, today the Harmodio Arias Madrid University Campus, and the Corozal Veterinary Hospital. During this time, the Campus increased its infrastructure in 19 more buildings, including the purchase of the COIF, Hispania Noriega and Fundación Universidad de Panamá buildings. In this period, the Regional University Center of Bocas del Toro, the Educational Extension of Chepo and Darién and the Popular Universities of Azuero and Coclé, today the Universiades of Labor and the Third Age, were built.