On April 12, 2002, the then Governor of the State, Mr. Armando López Nogales, signed a decree by virtue of which he created an Institution of Higher Education in the heart of the mountain region of our state: The dreams of many residents of the region to have an institution of this educational level began to crystallize. This new institution would be called Universidad de la Sierra and would be located in the Municipality of Moctezuma. On September 2, the previously arid and inhospitable plains of the north of the municipal capital were swarmed by hundreds of young people, who, hopeful, attended the first day of classes: The Sierra de Sonora was opening its new University.
On September 2 of the same year, 167 newly enrolled young people listened to the words with which the Rector of the University, Dr. Samuel Ocaña García, gave the inaugural speech of the academic activities of this new House of Studies, which began in one of the three educational programs that constituted it: Industrial Engineering in Productivity and Quality, Bachelor’s degree in Biology and bachelor’s degree in Project Management and Evaluation.
For the month of November, there was the visit of the Constitutional President of the United Mexican States, Mr. Vicente Fox Quesada, who formally inaugurated the work of this Maximum House of Studies, who in turn handed over the building that then constituted the University to the people of the Sierra Sonoran and to the young scholars. On this great occasion, the President of the Republic was accompanied by Dr. Reyes Tamez Guerra, Secretary of Public Education; the Governor, Mr. Armando López Nogales and Dr. Víctor Galindo Sánchez, Secretary of Education and Culture of the State.
