On 17 March, the Faculty of Economics has informed of the death of the retired university professor of Economic Analysis Dr. Ángel Ortí Lahoz, who was a dean of the faculty at various stages of his career (elected five times in total) and a vice-principal of the Universitat de València among other positions of authority.

The principal of the Universitat de València, Mª Vicenta Mestre, expressed the condolences on behalf of the whole institution to the dean of the Faculty of Economics. She highlighted “his [Dr.Ortí] tireless work, fighting spirit, and the exemplary commitment to the university management and administration. Ángel Ortí was the key figure to the creation and consolidation of the Faculty of Economics as well as the pioneer of its internationalisation.”

José Manuel Pastor, the dean of the Faculty of Economics as well as a colleague of professor Ortí and his former student, pointed out that the deceased was “a good person, a loved and admired colleague, and one of the most determined deans in the history of the faculty.”

A protagonist of the Faculty consolidation

The current Faculty of Economics came into being after merging the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies and the University School of Business Studies.

Founded in 1966, the Faculty of Economics Business Studies began its first academic year in 1967-1968 facing the challenge of the shortage of staff. According to the professor José Honrubia, the first Faculty secretary, the number of graduates in Valencia was insufficient, so there was no one to employ for teaching positions at the university.

This is how during the first years of the Faculty history Ángel Ortí started his career as a university professor. Having graduated from the Universitat de Barcelona, Ángel Ortí moved to Valencia and became one of the protagonists consolidating the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies according to professor Vicente Montesinos who was also a dean of the Faculty.

Elected 5 times as a Faculty dean and a vice-principal at a key time of the university life

As a university manager, Ángel Ortí accumulated a total of 19 years, 4 months, and 1 day of academic work: as a director of the Department of Economic Analysis, a delegate of the principal, a dean, and a vice-principal.

His main achievements took place in relation to the Faculty of Economics, where he was elected as a dean 5 periods. Today the dean’s office of this faculty is the biggest one at the Universitat de València. He also contributed as a university vice-principal in the times of transition to the Spanish democracy.

At first, Ángel Ortí was a dean between 1977 and 1979, after which he resigned only to occupy the position of a Vice-Principal for Academic Regulations and Teaching Staff under the guidance of the Principal Joaquín Colomer. The principal Colomer was also a president of the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) and conducted university negotiations regarding the Spanish Law of University Reform which, within the framework of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, allowed the modern democratic universities advance.

As a Vice-Principal for Academic Regulations and Teaching Staff between 1979 and 1984, Ángel Ortí faced a challenge of increasing the number of enroled students and confronting the legal instability of the teachers’ employment conditions, including the problem with untenured assistant professors (PNN in Spain).

Later he became the position of the dean again between 1985 and 1992.

According to the professor Vicente Montesinos, this time Ortí “put much effort into addressing the problem of the university overcrowding and experimented with the solutions while working as a dean.”

It was this time that the public university saw a massive incorporation of the local community into the university on the one hand and many students of different ages willing to expand their human capital with university studies on the other hand.

Under the supervision of Ángel Ortí, the dean’s team also had to introduce changes to the former licentiate degrees in Economics of 1973 and in Business Administration of 1993, which now serve as a basis for the current undergraduate study plans.

The current dean of the Faculty prof. José Manuel Pastor considers that those were the times when prof. Ortí was “a role model of daily effective management” and never conformed to the previous strategies looking for new strategic challenges.

In this regard, Ángel Ortí always valued the contribution of Administration and Services Staff (PAS) of the Faculty to put forward the ideas of modern, effective, and efficient university management.

A man committed to democracy and freedoms

In his speeches, Dr. Ortí always stood out as an advocate of freedoms and democracy, which he considered were the key values to build an open and international society.

An advocate for freedoms, a friend to great economists and politicians, Ángel Ortí always mentioned his faculty colleague Ernest Lluch, who was killed by ETA terrorist group.

Many Faculty students as well as university professors noted not only his human qualities but also his help in the times of darkness during the Francoist dictatorship.

The former Faculty dean and the current Minister for Finance and the Economic Model of the Valencian government (Generalitat Valenciana), Dr. Vicent Soler i Marco, remembers how Ángel Ortí used to read university texts during great public demonstrations and always defended the prosecuted for political offenses, which was also his case during the process known as els 10 d’Alaquàs (Valencian for “the 10 people from Alaquàs”)

After the coup d’état on 23 February 1981, Ángel Ortí read the manifesto at the end of the demonstration for freedom, democracy, and the Constitution in Valencia.

A pioneer of internationalisation of the Universitat

Professor Vicente Montesinos points out that, as a dean of the Faculty of Economics, Ángel Ortí was concerned with the societal and international relations within the Economy and Business Studies.

Professor Enrique Bigné, who was also the dean of the Faculty of Economics and the UV vice-principal, also considers Ángel Ortí as “the father of the double international degrees”.

Ángel Ortí introduced the student exchanges to France, United Kingdom, and Germany for new degrees, which later came to be known as the international double degree programmes: Degree in Business Management and Administration (GADE) and Degree in Economics (GECO). These programmes incorporated the courses in English read in the Universitat de València and the student mobility to the United States, such as to the University of North Carolina.

Today the Faculty of Economics offers various international double degree programmes both at the undergraduate and graduate level of studies, which have resulted from the work of Ángel Ortí.

After resigning from his position as a dean, professor Ortí continued fostering and collaborating with the International Relations Office of the Faculty of Economics. He also worked on introducing new international double degree programmes; specifically, he was one of the first professors and promoters of the (licentiate) Degree in Marketing Research.

“He made us a part of the TransAtlantic Business School Alliance (TABSA) and of the Business Administration and Management + Law programme,” remembers the dean José Manuel Pastor. He affirms that “today we should be grateful for the efforts of Ángel Ortí and other deans of the faculty who transformed the Faculty of Economics into a leading European institution for the incoming Erasmus students.”

Before his retirement, Ángel Ortí occupied the position of a delegate of the principal regarding the student exchange under the supervision of the principals Francisco Tomás and Esteban Morcillo, contributing to internationalisation of the studies together with the Universitat de València.

_____

This information was provided as a part of institutional communication on behalf of the Principal’s Office of the Universitat de València. It is based on the statement of the dean of the Faculty of Economics during the ceremony at Sala Ángel Ortí Lahoz Hall on 23 May 2019 and on the following bibliographic reference:

BIGNÉ, E.; ALDÁS, J. (2017): Des de 1966, 50 anys de la Facultat d’Economia. València: Facultat d’Economia – Universitat de València