Dr. Roberto Lorán
The 2022 LACCEI Academic Merit Medalist
Dr. Lorán is a faculty member of the Industrial Engineering Department of the Ana G. Méndez University in Puerto Rico. He served as Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs until 2018 and prior to this appointment, as Dean of the School of Engineering. His undergraduate education was in industrial engineering and hold doctoral degrees from Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Operations Research and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Computer Sciences. Dr. Loran was the holder of the Samuel P. Massie Chair of Excellence between 2004 and 2016. As such, he was part of a world-class group of thirteen US scholars, researchers and educators sponsored by the US Department of Energy devoted to advance research and education.
He spent over 20 years at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez and Cayey campuses as a faculty member and in various administrative positions. He also taught at universities in multiple countries, including Spain, Chile, Uruguay, and the Dominican Republic. He has been a consultant for several international organizations, including the United Nations. His primary research interest is applying emerging technologies to contribute to the socio-economic development and regional competitiveness with an emphasis on strategies to promote entrepreneurship.
Throughout his career, Dr. Lorán has remained very active in international projects and is widely recognized as a pioneer in the development of the Internet in the Caribbean. In 1990, in collaboration with the National Science Foundation and the Organization of American States, he organized the Caribbean Universities Network (CUNet), providing the first link to the network to academic institutions in fourteen countries. He has been founder of several entrepreneurship support centers including two business incubators and a technology accelerator. He also served in the Board of Directors of several regional organizations including the Caribbean Telecommunications Council, the International Center for Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development, and the Caribbean & Latin American Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI) in which he is also one of the founders.
