Sergio Molina

Family and education He was born in Talca on 6 December 1928, the eldest of four siblings of the marriage between Sergio Molina Borgoño and Violeta Silva Barros, daughter of former deputy and minister Matías Silva Sepúlveda and Ana Barros Jarpa (sister of Ernesto Barros Jarpa). He lived in the countryside until the age of twelve.

At the same time, he completed his primary education at the Liceo Blanco Encalada of Talca and later, from his second year of humanities, at the San Ignacio School of Santiago. Among his teachers was the priest Alberto Hurtado, later canonized as a saint. He married Paulina Barros Holman, with whom he had three daughters.

In 1946, he entered the University of Chile to study at the School of Economic Sciences, graduating in 1950.

Political career Governments of Ibáñez, Alessandri, and Frei In 1949—during the presidency of Gabriel González Videla—while still a student, he joined the Ministry of Finance as part of the first group of economic advisers of the ministry, which later became the basis of the Financial Studies Department. Between 1968 and 1970, he served as executive vice president of the state-owned Corporation for the Promotion of Production (CORFO).

He served as governor of the Inter-American Development Bank between 1964 and 1967. Between 1962 and 1964, he was dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Chile.

He did not collaborate during the government of Salvador Allende (1970–1973), and following the coup d'état of 11 September 1973 led by General Augusto Pinochet, he went into exile.

Role in the Concertación From 1985 to 1987, he served as coordinator of the National Agreement for the Transition to Full Democracy, under the auspices of Cardinal Juan Francisco Fresno, together with José Zabala and Fernando Léniz.

Between 11 March 1990 and 19 July of the same year, he served as minister-director of the National Planning Office (ODEPLAN), and between that date and 11 March 1994 as Minister of Planning and Cooperation under President Patricio Aylwin.

On 20 September 1994, he was appointed Minister of Education by the incoming president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. He headed that ministry until 28 September 1996.