Diego Quiroga Ferri

Diego has led the research departments and international programs at Universidad San Francisco de Quito(USFQ) for more than 10 years. His vision has led USFQ to stand out in the rankings as the No. 1 university in Internationalization in Latin America (Times Higher Education). He served as Dean of Research and International Programs and co-directed the Galapagos Institute of Arts and Sciences (GAIAS).

Diego obtained his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign. His areas of research interest are Urban Ecology, Political Ecology and Medical Anthropology in regions such as the Galapagos, the Amazon and the Andes. Diego has worked actively in biodiversity and vulnerability research, as well as traditional medicine in the region.

Diego firmly believes that the role of universities is to be part of the innovation ecosystem and that it must be connected to the needs of the communities, with the objective of shaping public policy and supporting the private sector. His work philosophy is based on the Liberal Arts, which promotes the work of multidisciplinary groups; where each person contributes his or her specific knowledge to advance research.