The "José Celestino Mutis" Prize for the Teaching of Mathematics


The Colombian Mathematical Society awards the "José Celestino Mutis" Award for the Teaching of Mathematics to those teachers of mathematics who have excelled in their professional work and who, through it, have contributed in a fundamental way to the development of mathematics in the country. It has been awarded every second year since 2011 and the presentation is made at the Colombian Mathematics Congress. The first prize winner was Jesús Hernando Pérez, from the Mathematics Department of Sergio Arboleda University in Bogotá.

José Celestino Mutis (1732-1808) was a Spanish scientist who organised and directed the Royal Botanical Expedition of the New Kingdom of Granada, one of the most important scientific expeditions of the eighteenth century. The New Kingdom of Granada included present day Colombia and had its capital at present day Bogatá. He was born on 6 April 1732 in Cádiz, Spain and studied at the College of the Jesuits of Cádiz in 1749. In July 1757 he received a doctorate in medicine in Madrid. During his stay in Madrid he taught anatomy at the Hospital de Madrid and studied mathematics, physics, astronomy and natural sciences, while working in the Botanical Garden of Soto de Migas, Madrid. In 1760 he moved to the New Kingdom of Granada as doctor of the viceroy and in 1762 was appointed to the chair of mathematics at the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Senora del Rosario and in 1763 he presented his plan for a Natural History of America. Between 1766 and 1770 he studied mineralogy and in 1773 he wrote in support of Copernican and Newtonian theories. In 1783 he began the Royal Botanical Expedition of the New Kingdom of Granada. He died on 11 September 1808 in Bogotá.

Here is the list of winners of the "José Celestino Mutis" Prize:

2011 Jesús Hernando Pérez

2013 María Falk de Losada

2015 Carlos Eduardo Vasco

2017 Alberto Campos Sánchez