inspiring people
Joaquín Villar García
President of the Board of Directors & Rector Columbus University
CITIZEN
Panama
Education
BA Applied Sociology
University Complutense de Madrid
Languages
Spanish
IN SHORT
Two priests and a layman have illuminated the life path of Joaquín Villar García, a sociologist and financier who, after more than four years in the seminary, realised that God did not want him to be a priest but a teacher, a public servant and a father. His first salary as a labourer was $10 a week. He believes that education is the best way forward for Panama – and has lived up to this conviction by founding Columbus University in 1992.
