Established in 1954, the institution was named after the botanist, scientist and politician Jorge Tadeo Lozano.

The university was founded by Joaquín Molano Campuzano, Javier Pulgar Vidal and Jaime Forero Valdés at a time of great political commotion in Colombia.

Their aim was to create an environment of peaceful engagement in an academic setting, based on the scientific and altruistic principles that characterized the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada of which Jorge Tadeo Lozano was a member, in a team of scientists led by José Celestino Mutis.

Among the notable architecture features of the school are an auditorium, a fine art gallery, a postgraduate studies building and a public square designed by Colombian architect Daniel Bermúdez.

This Colombian university, college, or tertiary institution related article is a stub.