(Obra de Don Bosco en Rodeo del Medio, Mendoza) – The Don Bosco Faculty organised a ceremony to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Faculty of Oenology and Food Science, located in the Salesian House in Rodeo del Medio, Mendoza, Argentina.
The exciting event was attended by numerous personalities, including the Rector of the Work, Fr José Cordera, and the Dean, María Silvia Farah. The event was also attended by representatives of the Salesian community, teachers, students, families and members of the public. The ceremony also brought together authorities from the Catholic University of Cuyo, political authorities, representatives of other nearby academic institutions, graduates and companies in the sector, once again demonstrating the interconnection between the community and scientific and technological knowledge. All present toasted with a specially crafted wine to commemorate the Faculty’s six decades.
Throughout the day, moments of remembrance, gratitude and hope were shared, celebrating a history that continues to bear fruit in the service of education and productive development in the region.
As the Dean said, ‘We celebrated a future full of expectations and challenges. In the current context, universities must accompany evolution in order to continue to be spaces of knowledge, innovation, professional development and, above all, human development, preparing for the future.’
Sixty years of innovation
The Don Bosco Faculty is part of the long history of the Salesian Rodeo del Medio work, dedicated to the training of wine professionals since 1901. On 31 October 1965, the Don Bosco Faculty of Oenology and Food Science was officially founded, which became the first institution of higher studies in the wine sector in all of Latin America. This proposal arose from the need to offer greater professionalism and academic training to those in charge of the wine industry, in a context of growth in the sector.
Inspired by Salesian education, rulers and industrialists put their trust in Don Bosco and his educational method to realise this project. Since then, graduates in Oenology, Fruit and Vegetable Industry, Food Technology and Sommelier have been trained in this house of studies, and today represent the Faculty in different areas of the country and the world. Proud of the past, grateful for the present and hopeful for the future, the educational community celebrated six decades of history, innovation and service.
The entire Salesian Province of Argentina North (ARN) expressed pride and gratitude for this anniversary. ‘We congratulate the entire educational community of the Don Bosco Faculty and Rodeo del Medio,’ wrote the province, ‘for its constant commitment to formation, research and service to young people, in the style of Don Bosco.’
