University of Chile Honors Emeritus Claudio Véliz
On Wednesday, November 26, 2025, Emeritus Professor of History and Emeritus Director of University Professors, Claudio Véliz, received the distinction “Doctor Honoris Causa” at the University of Chile, one of the highest recognitions of the University to those who stand out for their merits or outstanding actions for the benefit of the study of the country or of humanity. In 1966, he founded and directed the Institute of International Studies of the University of Chile (IEI), one of the first centers in Latin America to dedicate itself to international studies.
He recalled in his address to faculty and students of the IEI, “I founded the Institute in response to the fact that our country had one of the most complex and longest diplomatic traditions in Latin America.” While similar programs in Chile have failed, the IEI has persevered through the country’s most challenging historical moments and produced alumni that have excelled in becoming foreign ministers and ambassadors.
In 1989, Véliz was invited to Boston University by John R. Silber (Hon.’95), the president emeritus and former chancellor who led the transformation of Boston University from a commuter school to a renowned research institution. Here, he taught Latin American history at what is now the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies Institute on Culture, Religion, & World Affairs (CURA). During this time, he published The New World of the Gothic Fox: Culture and Economy in English and Spanish America (University of California Press, 1994). He later assumed the role of Director of the University Professors until 2002.
Before coming to Boston University, he held several academic positions; Professor of Economic History (1956–1960) and International Politics (1966–1972) at the University of Chile, Senior Research Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (1961–1966), Professor International Politics at the Chilean War Academy (1968–1972), Professor of Sociology and Dean of the School of Social Sciences at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia (1972–1989), Visiting Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles (1969–1970), and Visiting Professor of History at Harvard University (1979–1980). His published works include Historia de la Marina Mercante de Chile and The Centralist Tradition of Latin America.