HISTORIC SUMMARY
The UR was born with the Republic. During Uruguay’s first constitutional administration, a law was passed in 1833 which led to the establishment of the institution. The governmental decree was issued in 1838 and the university opened its doors in 1849 in spite of the civil war that raged at the time. The Law School was the first one in the institution. Modern scientific investigation began to flourish in Uruguay during the final decades of the 19th century, and this took place mainly at the UR: first of all in its School of Medicine, and then in the School of Mathematics, which later was transformed in the Schools of Engineering and Architecture. The modernizing impetus at the beginning of the 20th century led to the creation of the Schools of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine. By 1950, the university had ten full schools; in addition to those already mentioned, these included Economics, Chemistry, Dentistry, and Humanities and Sciences. By this time, in addition to teaching and research, the UR was engaged in significant university extension work, most of it encouraged by the student movement. In the context of Latin American universities, the word “extension” means mainly work for and with the community. In 1951 the new Constitution guaranteed university autonomy, and in 1958 an Organic Law was passed which continues to define the university today. This is the law that establishes what we call co-government (that is, the effective participation in the governance of the university by students, faculty and alumni), as well as the school’s commitment to the solution of social problems and the defense of human rights and its compromise on the promotion of the democratic and republican political system for the country. This commitment, nurtured by the best traditions in its own history, led the institution to stand up to the dictatorships suffered by Uruguay twice in the 20th century. The military regime, which lasted from 1973 to 1985, intervened in the UR, replacing its legitimately elected authorities and seriously affecting university life. With the return of democracy, the UR regained its autonomy and co-government, and began an arduous task of reconstruction and the search for new horizons. The schools of Sciences, Social Sciences, Psychology and Nursing were created at this time. Based on existent university programs we soon hope to create the School of Art and the School of Information and Communication. The UR is committed to combining teaching with research and extension.
