Dr. Sergio Fajardo is a mathematician, professor, and politician. At the beginning of his career, he worked for various scientific institutions in Colombia as member of the National Council for Basic Sciences, the National Commission for Masters and Doctorates, and director of the Antioquia Science and Technology Center, among others. Later, as a result of his political career, in 2016 and 2019 he held the position of visiting professor at the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States.
In 1999, he founded the civic movement 'Compromiso Ciudadano' with which he was elected mayor of Medellín for the period 2004-2007 with the highest vote registered at that time in the history of the city. His government was characterized by a new form of public management, focused on citizenship, transparency, and social innovation, which resulted in the highest acceptance and popularity rates in Colombia. During this four-year period, he led the biggest transformation of Medellín: from a city of inequity and violence to a worldwide example of social transformation through education and urbanism. He was awarded by the Colombia Líder Foundation as the best mayor of Colombia.
From 2012-2015, he was governor of Antioquia. During this period, he led the city's economic and social transformation, and similar to Medellín, his government addressed inequity, violence, and corruption. He was awarded by the Colombia Líder Foundation as the best governor of Colombia.
He was a candidate for the Colombian presidential elections in 2018 and 2022.
At the beginning of 2023, 'Compromiso Ciudadano' merged with the political party 'Dignidad', becoming the new political party called 'Dignidad y Compromiso', whose leaders and founders include Sergio Fajardo.
During his career as a mathematician, the central topics of his research were mathematical logic and the area of theory of probability models. In politics, his governments and his work have focused on areas such as urbanism, territorial development, education, and gender equity, to name a few.
In addition to having been a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the United States; at the University of Oslo, in Norway; at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and the Universidad Central de Venezuela, among other universities in the United States, Europe, and Latin America, he has also given lectures on citizenship, politics, and issues of the public sphere and its transformation.
As governor of Antioquia, Sergio Fajardo was awarded and recognized as one of the best governors in the 2012-2015 period by the Colombia Líder Foundation. In addition, his development plan called "Antioquia la Más Educada" was recognized as the best in the country.
Due to his outstanding career, he received the honorary title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the International Menéndez Pelayo University (UIMP) in Spain (2009) and the University of Cordoba, in Argentina (2015).
In 2014, he received the Excellence and Leadership Award in Urban Management and Development from the University of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
Back to his first political position as mayor of Medellín, his social and urban transformation project called "Medellín la Más Educada" received the City to City Barcelona FAD award in 2009. Moreover, he ended his government with 95% approval and received the 2007 Latin American Character Award from The Financial Times.
Also, in 2007, he was one of the 8 outstanding leaders of the region in the America Awards for Excellence in Public Service of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the UN. Also, he received the Curry Stone Design Prize in 2009 and the Antonio de Sancha Prize awarded by the Madrid Publishers Association in 2010.
Sergio Fajardo joined Tecnológico de Monterrey as Distinguished University Professor in Public Leadership for the School of Social Sciences and Government.
