José V. Bernal – 50th Reunion Essay

José V. Bernal

Calle 161 # 54-10 Torre 3 Apartamento 702

Conjunto Senderos del Carmel 2

Bogotá, DC1 00001

bernal.josevicente@gmail.com

57- 317-512-7500

Spouse(s): María Eugenia Mattos de Bernal

Child(ren): Ximena E. Bernal; Camila C. Bernal

Grandchild(ren): Tomas (2017) and Sarita (2015) Vargas-Bernal; Emma (2013) and Tobias (2017) Baquero Bernal

Education: Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá Colombia. High Management (1987), and Financial Legistation (1993).

Career: Entire career in financial management: Hartford National Bank and Trust Company (1969-1971); Arthur Young and Co. in Bogotá, Colombia (1971-1973); IBM Colombia (1973-1993). Several local companies in Bogotá (1994-2001); Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios in Colombia (2002-2018).

Avocations: Reading, walking, following tennis and Formula One racing.

College: Jonathan Edwards

I retired in April of 2018 after working during the last 16 years of my professional career for a university that concentrates on the education of youngsters at the Base of the Pyramid.

After Yale I worked for a couple of years for a bank in Hartford, Connecticut. Then decided to return to Colombia, my country of birth, and worked initially for an American audit firm and then for a large American multinational during 20 years. These jobs allowed me to make the transition to Colombia without losing contact with the USA. During that period of time I did graduate work in high management and financial legislation in Bogota, Colombia. Later on I went to work for a couple of universities.

I always worked in the financial area, first managing the wealth of American companies and then at the end of my career managing the absence of wealth of a university that charges students less than US $1.00 per semester for a tertiary education that we try to make of high quality. These last few years were the most interesting and valuable of my work experience.

In 1973 I married a Colombian girl, Maria Eugenia, and she is still my wife. She is now a retired publicist who worked most of her career in graphic design. We had two daughters born in the ’70s. The oldest one went to the USA some 15 years ago to do graduate work and got her PhD in biological sciences at the University of Texas. She is now an American citizen and an associate professor at Purdue University. Her husband is Colombian and also a professor at Purdue. They have two children who were born in the USA. So my grandchildren are Americans. My youngest daughter lived in Europe, Spain and Germany, for over 15 years. She also married a Colombian man. She is an economist specializing in tourism. She is a Spanish citizen and so are her daughter and son. Her family returned to Colombia a couple of years ago and we are happy to enjoy having them near us. The story of my children is similar to that of many young Colombian people who had to leave the country because of the social conflict and the lack of opportunities.

I have the best memories of the times we shared at Yale, in spite of the difficulties I had initially adjusting to a new language and a new culture. The profound experience I lived at Yale made me the person I am and I am very happy I had the opportunity to live that experience.