Pan-American Academy of Engineering named Honorary Member of the Carlos III Foundation
Madrid, Spain
The Board of Trustees of the Carlos III Foundation in Spain has named the Pan-American Academy of Engineering (API) an Honorary Member, the institution's highest distinction, "in recognition of its exemplary work representing engineering to society in all its facets and branches, in this new era of enlightenment, progress, and humanism, upholding the ideals of the good King Charles for the benefit of the countries that make up Ibero-America."
The diploma was presented on Friday, October 2, in Madrid, during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Institute of Engineering of Spain. It bears the royal coat of arms of Charles III as King of Naples and Sicily, which the Royal Household granted to the Foundation. At the same ceremony, the Foundation named the Academy's president, engineer José Domingo Pérez Muñiz, a Member of Merit in recognition of his professional career and his outstanding work leading the API.
The Foundation, which bears the name of the enlightened monarch, has a strong American focus expressed through its Ibero-American Chapter. Its members include 40 current and former presidents of American republics, as well as other distinguished figures. Notable members have included Nobel laureates Mario Molina (Chemistry), Óscar Arias (Peace), and Camilo José Cela and Mario Vargas Llosa (Literature).
Upon receiving the distinction, Pérez Muñiz stated: "On behalf of the Pan-American Academy of Engineering, we accept the honor of being inducted as an Honorary Member of the Carlos III Foundation with gratitude, but also with a full awareness of the responsibility it entails." The API president emphasized that the recognition "has a significance that transcends the merely ceremonial. It strengthens the bond between Spain and the Americas and brings together institutions that share the conviction that knowledge must become an instrument of progress and well-being on both sides of the ocean."
In his speech, he specifically remembered the Mexican engineer Mario Molina: "This distinction also formalizes a historical bond of particular significance through the late Dr. Mario Molina, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, who was an Honorary Member of both the Carlos III Foundation and the Pan-American Academy of Engineering."
Building on Molina's legacy, Pérez Muñiz addressed climate change, which he described as one of the greatest challenges of our time, and its effects on infrastructure. "As we have stated in the Academy's declarations in San Juan, Córdoba, and Panama, engineering has an unavoidable responsibility in the face of this reality," he affirmed. "At the Pan-American Academy of Engineering, we have committed to ensuring that the planning, development, design, construction, maintenance, and operation of infrastructure projects incorporate the principles of sustainability and resilience against the impacts of climate change from their very inception. The goal cannot simply be to build more. We must build better."
The Academy's president maintained that this task requires cooperation: "Climate, technological, and social challenges do not recognize borders and require cooperation between countries, universities, academies, professional organizations, governments, and civil society." Therefore, he added, "beyond the honor of the recognition, we accept this distinction as an invitation to work together for the benefit of humanity."
Pérez Muñiz concluded his remarks by saying: "On behalf of all the members of the Pan-American Academy of Engineering, we thank the Carlos III Foundation for this distinction, which we receive with pride, accept with humility, and assume as a commitment to our people and to humanity."
