It takes a lot of space to display the range of University of Puerto Rico alumnus Bartolomé Gamundi's multidisciplinary pursuits, and the walls of his office, crammed full of evidence of his interests, don't seem large enough to showcase them. They're crowded with portraits of Pablo Casals and Salvador Dalí, Gamundi's collection of model cars, and hundreds of plaques and framed newspaper clippings displaying the variety of work he does: managing a biotech company; writing books and articles; heading various business and community organizations.

Author of Nuevas direcciones: para líderes y organizaciones del futuro, Gamundi also writes a weekly column for the newspaper El Nuevo Día, and is a member of the Government of Puerto Rico's Committee to Support Science and Technology Development.

He credits some of his success in business to the training in science he received at UPR. "Capability of analysis is an excellent tool for a multidisciplinary approach. I believe in a system approach, but a system is a combination of different types of analysis," he says. So, in addition to studying science, Garmundi studies and applies philosophy and social sciences to business. "The social sciences give me excellent tools to approach people."

His second book (in progress) focuses on the rules for social/economic growth. "I don't divorce the terms," he says. "I see economic and social development as a single activity. If we have an ill society, we will have an ill community of employees. Being socially responsible ends up helping your financial statement–and profit is one way to measure success."

Gamundi has served as the president of the Industrial Association in Puerto Rico and is an adjunct professor at Interamerican University. He believes that art is essential to a well-rounded education: "It makes you sensitive, fills your spirit, allows you to know other people. It develops learning by exploring all knowledge, by interpreting what the artist tries to say." Gamundi is immersed in many areas of community work, including his role as Padrino of the gala at the Ponce Museum of Art.

Bartolomé Gamundi is vice president of manufacturing and general manager of Electro Biology Inc. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in 1965 and earned degrees from the McGill University in Montreal, Canada and the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.

José Eduardo Perez

by Javier Ortíz

"As the human being moves towards specialization, he loses more contact with the macro world and the most complete humanistic tendencies. "

He closes high-risk financial transactions during working hours, but devotes his free time to his true passion: music. "A person learns a trade because he has to earn a living. But life is more than money and finances. We must live life to the fullest and keep things in perspective. The connection with music offers that added dimension because you use your senses," says José Eduardo Pérez, alumnus of the College of Business Administration of UPR.

After a successful career in the banking industry, Pérez devotes his time to the Augusto Rodríguez Alumni Choir, which he formed three years ago with several other alumni. Pérez has great admiration for Augusto Rodríguez, founder of the UPR Choir: "With the maestro, I learned to work hard for the things I believe in. It's important to have a good orientation in life, to know where you're going with your goals. If you work hard, this principle will never fail you."

Pérez applied his philosophy when organizing the Concierto del Centenario, a concert given by the Alumni Choir to commemorate the University's 100 years of existence. The event also raised funds for education. "As an economist, I thought: What investment would yield the best return for the future of Puerto Rico?" The answer is in financing graduate studies. The concert created the first graduate student scholarship trust fund financed with private donations.

Pérez says it's not necessary to go abroad for a good graduate education. Nevertheless, very little financial aid exists in Puerto Rico. Therefore, scholarships contribute to maintaining a good pool of talent on the island.

The concert demonstrated to Pérez how rewarding collaboration among academia, citizens, and industry can be. "Communication between private industry and the university is necessary in order to solve the serious problems that plague the island," he adds.

Pérez attributes his success in finances to his command of highly technical, specialized knowledge. However, he discovered early on that the creative sensitivity cultivated in the arts is essential for solving complex problems.

"We live in an environment of specialization. Ortega y Gasset said, 'The specialist knows everything about nothing.' The more humans aim toward specialization, the more they lose contact with the macro world and with the widest range of humanist capability."

José Eduardo Pérez is the presedent of FinMetrix Consulting Corp., one of a handful of financial engineering firms in the island.

José Jaime Rivera

by Suzanna Engman

"Students will learn better by doing research and by integrating and applying their knowledge through professional service opportunities."

In order to fully educate students, universities need to return to a multidisciplinary liberal arts core, says President of Sacred Heart University José Jaime Rivera, a University of Puerto Rico economics alumnus. "Undergraduate specialization began to increase in the 1960s and boomed in the '80s, but it became dysfunctional. It went overboard.

"By then, the undergraduate curricula had overspecialized. The temptation was to examine problems and design quick answers or solutions from narrowly defined disciplines. Graduate education is the proper place for specialization, but at the undergraduate level, majors need to be closely linked to the general education curriculum, and not the other way around. Otherwise, students are not going to apply knowledge correctly or be critical of this knowledge."

In addition to creating a multi- and interdisciplinary core curriculum, Rivera says that educators should integrate research experiences and community based, service learning components into the undergraduate curriculum. "Students will learn better by doing research and by integrating and applying their knowledge through professional service opportunities," he says.

At Sacred Heart University, every student must participate in a community service project before graduating. "This has resulted in very powerful transformations in the students. It has changed their understanding of social inequalities on the island. They have discarded stereotypes they've grown up with–that the poor are poor because they choose to be. The experience is contributing to the development of professionals in Puerto Rico who have a solid social philosophy and are sensitive to the inequalities that exist in society. This is essential in higher education."

In 1997, Sacred Heart University completed a curriculum reform that reemphasized the liberal arts core component of undergraduate education. "At no time before has that component been so important as now–precisely because we have become such a technology driven, quick response society. We expect instant responses, sometimes without reflection. Through multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, we make the best contribution to student growth and development."

José Jaime Rivera graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a B.A. in economics in 1967. He completed his doctorate at New York University. He has been the President of Sacred Heart for the past 10 years.