Alumni Spotlight: Joe Ramos Pens New Book Examining the Mystery of God

May 16, 2022

The renowned Chilean-American economist Joseph (“Joe”) Ramos (CC'59, SEAS'60, SIPA'64, GSAS'68), professor and former dean of Universidad de Chile’s School of Economics and Business and a member of the Santiago Center’s Advisory Board, will launch a book he wrote examining the mystery of God – not via the lens of faith, but by reason.

The book launch of “Creer o no Creer. El Misterio de Dios a la Luz de la Razón” (To Believe or not to Believe. The Mystery of God in the Light of Reason) will take place on Wednesday, May 18 at 12:00 in Santiago, at Universidad de Chile’s School of Economics and Business. Use this link to sign up for the in-person event.

“While extreme scientific rationalism predominates in the West, the space for reflection on the transcendent and doubts regarding God occupy a marginal place in our culture. Given this, Joseph Ramos raises the need to resume that lost dialogue, but not from faith, which only serves those who have it, but from reason,” according to the book’s summary from the publisher, Paidós. “This text searches for God through the paths of reason in the light of modern science.”

Besides teaching at Universidad de Chile, Ramos worked for 27 years in UN agencies headquartered in Santiago, advising Latin American governments on employment policies, anti-inflationary programs, and development. He is currently Vice President of the Chilean National Productivity Commission and was its first President from 2015-2018. Two of its main reports focus on how to significantly increase time allotted to medical surgeries while shortening medical waiting times with better use of existing hospital facilities, and how to raise productivity in the construction sector.

In 2018, the Columbia Alumni Association of Chile honored Ramos with its first Outstanding Columbia University Alumnus award. The Association then featured him in an online event co-sponsored by the Santiago Center, entitled “NYC in the 50s and 60s: A Conversation with Joseph Ramos.”