Laserna Pinzón is credited for being the founder of the Los Andes University in Bogotá, which was incorporated in 1948 and is a private institution modeled on the United States liberal arts educational system.
He was born in Paris, France, on August 21, 1923, to Colombian parents, Francisco Laserna Bravo and Elena Pinzón Castillo, and was raised first in Colombia where he attended the Instituto La Salle and then from 1931 to 1932 in Queens in NYC.
[2] Mario Laserna Pinzón is widely admired in his country as an educator, a politician, and a passionate seeker of knowledge, with numerous books and studies to his credit.
During the late 1940s and 1950s he became acquainted with many important scientific figures of the day, including Albert Einstein, whom he met while studying at Princeton, and Nicolás Gómez Dávila, his mentor.
Because of his life's work and contribution to the country, President Álvaro Uribe Vélez honored him with the Order of Boyacá in the Rank of the Grand Cross, the highest civilian honour bestowed by the Republic of Colombia.