Facundo Bueso Sanllehí (February 5, 1905 – January 24, 1960) was a physicist, educator, science communicator and athlete.
degree in Physics (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.
[1] Bueso died on January 24, 1960, when the motor boat in which he traveled was overturned near Isla Verde, Puerto Rico.
[4][5] He was inducted into the Puerto Rican Sports Pavilion, also known as 'El Pabellón de la Fama del Deporte Puertorriqueño,' in 1950,("El Pabellón de la Fama del Deporte Puertorriqueño") and the Hall of Fame of Sports in Puerto Rico ('El Salón de la Fama del Deporte en Puerto Rico') on January 25, 1958.
[4] The University of Puerto Rico's Río Piedras campus has a historical building named in his honor, which is part of the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
[7] Bueso and his brothers, Francisco and Andrés, were enrolled in the Escuela Modelo de la Universidad.
He was the valedictorian of his class in 1919 and graduated from the experimental high school of the University of Puerto Rico in 1923 with honors.
program; served as the President of the Student and Faculty Council in 1927;[8] and became a member of the Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity.
[1] During the summer of 1927, Facundo Bueso served as an Instructor with the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Citizens' Military Training Camp (C.T.M.C.).
[10] His thesis advisor was Robert S. Mulliken who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1966 six years after Facundo Bueso's death.
[2][11] He worked at the University of Puerto Rico as Assistant Instructor in Physics (1926–34) before he had completed his Bachelor degree.
The first AM radio station in Puerto Rico was WKAQ (it was the fifth in the world[21]) and it was directed and administrated by Joaquín Agusty.
[4] During his undergraduate college years at the University of Puerto Rico he practiced volleyball, basketball, baseball, and track and field.
Facundo Bueso was President of the Athletic Association ("Sociedad Atlética") at the University of Puerto Rico (1926–1927).
[4][26] Facundo Bueso distinguished himself for being an excellent educator,[27] not only clear in his presentations but also with a joy and sense of humor that also can be seen in his science outreach essays or in accounts by his former students.
[35] Facundo Bueso had a commitment to improving the science literacy of the public, in particular the people of Puerto Rico.
[5][37][38] In 1935 the government of Puerto Rico initiated a project of and educational series of programs called "Escuela del Aire.
[42][4] Dr. Lewis L. Strauss, President of the United States Atomic Energy Commission attended this Symposium.
"[1] Facundo Bueso died on January 24, 1960, in a motorboat accident 3–5 miles off the coast of the Isla Verde.
The Puerto Rico Legislature, the House of Representatives and the Senate, expressed their grief and observed a minute of silence in memory of Facundo Bueso.
[44][45] His burial took place on January 25, 1960, with a funeral procession that started at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico.
[46] The Chancellor, all the Faculty, University administration staff, thousands of students, representatives of cultural circles, scientists, government officials and others participated of the funeral procession.
[46] The "Facundo Bueso Chair of Physics" was created and it was offered by the Chancellor Jaime Benítez Rexach to Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer on February 29, 1960.
The artist Miguel Pou Becerra painted a portrait of Facundo Bueso that belongs to the Faculty of Natural Sciences.