Coordinator General

Born in Mexico City in 1941. He studied physics and earned a doctorate at the Facultad de Ciencias [Faculty of Sciences] of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) [National Autonomous University of Mexico]. He engaged in postdoctoral work for two years at Princeton University. In 1970 he traveled to France as a visiting professor at the Institute de Physique Nucléaire [Institute of Nuclear Physics] at the University of Paris, Orsay. Also, Dr Flores Valdés has taught short courses at the universities of Princeton, Paris and Zaragoza, among others. He was director of the Instituto de Física [Institute of Physics] and of the Centro de Ciencias Físicas [Center of Physical Sciences] of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) [National Autonomous University of Mexico], in Cuernavaca. He is an Investigador Nacional (Nivel III) [National Researcher (Level III) of the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI) [National Researcher System].

At the beginning of his career, Dr. Flores Valdés devoted himself to work on theoretical nuclear physics, during the 1970’s he delved into issues related with statistical theory of nuclear reactions and the theory of random matrices. He has also worked studying the fluctuation of small metal particles in the electronic spectrum. During the early 80's, he entered a new field: disordered solid state systems. After the huge earthquake of 1985, he developed a theory to understand the seismic response of the Valley of Mexico. At present he is studying classic elastic systems analogous to quantum systems. He is also recognized for his colossal efforts to disseminate science. He led the conceptualization, design, construction and operation of the Museo de las Ciencias Universum, en Ciudad Universitaria [Universum Science Museum, at the Ciudad Universitaria campus] of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) [National Autonomous University of Mexico]. 

He was appointed subsecretario de Educación Superior e Investigación Científica [undersecretary of Higher Education and Scientific Research] of the SEP [Ministry of Public Education], a period in which he promoted the creation of the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI) [National Researcher System]. Past President of the Sociedad Mexicana de Física [Mexican Society of Physics], of the Academia de la Investigación Científica [Academy of Scientific Research] (now the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias [Mexican Academy of Sciences]). Dr. Flores Valdés is Coordinator General of the Consejo Consultivo de Ciencias de la Presidencia de la República (CCC) [Science Consulting Council of the President’s Office]. 

He received the premio de Ciencias Exactas [Exact Sciences prize] of the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias [Mexican Academy of Sciences], the Premio Universidad Nacional en Investigación en Ciencias Exactas [National University Prize for Research in Exact Sciences] and the Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes [National Award for Science and Arts]. In 1992, he received the Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science, annually granted by UNESCO. 

His research articles have received over 1800 citations in the specialized literature. Dr. Flores Valdés wrote one of the most cited articles in theoretical physics in the world, and the most cited work of Mexican physics. He has published about a dozen books making nonscientists more aware of science’s developments. For a decade he was in charge of broadcasting the weekly program “Domingos en la Ciencia” ["Science on Sundays"] produced by the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias [Mexican Academy of Sciences].