Doctor Arturo Morales Carrión, as Government. Rafael Hernández Colón eulogized him, "one of the principal figures" in the history of Puerto Rico.
Education
Born in Havana of Puerto Rican parents, he studied at the Vila Mayo High School, and graduated in 1931 from the University High School (UHS), the alma mater of many prominent Puerto Ricans, before obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in History and Political Science from University of Puerto Rico in 1935. In Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 1936 and, later in life, obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in History and Government from Columbia University in 1950.
Career
Born November 16, 1913 in Havana, Cuba, of Puerto Rican parentage, he died in June, 1989 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after having served under Government. Luis Muñoz Marín as Under Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, under President John F. Kennedy as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, as special assistant to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States and as president of the University of Puerto Rico. He obtained an Master of Arts In 1953, Government.
Muñoz and Secretary of State Roberto Sánchez Vilella appointed Morales Carrión as Under Secretary of State, the position held for eleven of the past 22 years by José Rodríguez Suárez, and a post he held until 1961 for eight years.
During that period, he spearheaded efforts to provide technical assistance to neighboring nations and promoting cultural exchanges. In 1961, President Kennedy appointed Doctor Morales Carrión as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs until 1964, and helped organize the Alliance for Progress led by a fellow Puerto Rican, Teodoro Moscoso.
From 1964 to 1969, he served as Special Assistant to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States. Back in Puerto Rico, in 1973, he was chosen as President of University of Puerto Rico, a post he held until 1977. At University of Puerto Rico, he had earlier been chairman of its History Department, founded decades ago by Doctor Pilar Barbosa.
At University of Puerto Rico, and as its president, he created the Center for Historic Research.
He also founded the Puerto Rico Foundation of the Humanities and served as its Executive Director until his death in 1989. Throughout his life, he served as Visiting Professor at innumerable institutions of higher learning, including Harvard University. Columbia University, George Washington University and the University of Miami, as well as other universities in the Caribbean and Latin America.