Third rector and first to emerge from the Faculty itself, INCAE, this prominent U.S. leader holds a doctorate in business and law from Harvard University. His tenure was marked by the challenge of confronting the Sandinista regime in the early years of the revolution, defending institutional independence and academic freedom. His courageous leadership not only consolidated INCAE as a bastion of freedom of thought in Nicaragua, but also paved the way for its expansion into Costa Rica.
As academic director, he assumed the interim President while the Board of Trustees appointed him in recognition of his management and leadership for the opening of the campus in Costa Rica, as well as for his management during one of the difficult moments in the institution's trajectory, related to the global recession. With a doctorate in political science from the University of Southern California, he diversified INCAE 's academic offerings into economic policy and social economics, promoting programs focused on SMEs, public management and social organizations, while maintaining and strengthening the management approach.
In 1982, an agreement was signed with the Government of Costa Rica, which, through the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica, donated the facilities of the former Alajuela Racquet Club, located in La Garita de Alajuela, which was perfectly suited to the needs of a new campus. This operation was supported by Presidents Rodrigo Carazo and Luis Alberto Monge of Costa Rica, the National Committee, Rector Marc Lindenberg, Otto Castro, President of the National Committee, and Daniel Chaij, USAID local director.
On December 3, 1982, the campus of Montefresco, Managua, Nicaragua, was named in honor of Don Francisco de Sola. In his speech, Don Francisco thanked all those who, in one way or another, had contributed to the cause of INCAE over the years.
In April 1983, President Monge and Don Francisco de Sola laid the first stone for the construction of the new classroom, administrative and academic buildings of the new campus in Costa Rica.
The first Master's Program in Costa Rica (MAE XVI) begins. This particular group took their first year of the MAE at the Francisco de Sola campus in Nicaragua and then moved to complete their second year at the Costa Rica campus. The MAE (now MBA) program would not be offered again in Nicaragua until 1996.
The then president of Costa Rica, Luis Alberto Monge, inaugurated the new campus in Alajuela. In addition, this same year, thanks to a unanimous decision of the Board of Directors, Ecuador was incorporated as the seventh member country of the community Incaísta, with full rights and representation.
An American with a doctorate from Harvard University, he was a professor of production and operations in the early years of INCAE. During his term as rector, the first diversification of master's degrees was carried out with the Master's in Business Economics -MEE, and deepened economic policy programs throughout the region and in Ecuador.
