Born: 12 April 1916, Guatemala
Died: 27 November 2001
Country most active: Guatemala
Also known as: Francisca Fernández-Hall Zúñiga
Guatemalan engineer and diplomat Francisca Fernández-Hall Zúñiga was the first woman to graduate from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, the first woman to earn an engineering degree in Central America, the first woman to be accepted and attend the Instituto Militar de Engenharia of Brazil, and Guatemala’s first female ambassador.
After earning her Bachelor of Science and Letters and Master of Education, Zúñiga applied to study engineering at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, but was rejected. She enrolled instead in mathematics, and was admitted to the engineering program three months later, after achieving a perfect score on an exam. She earned the highest grade point average, completing her civil engineering degree in 1947. She received a scholarship to continue studying engineering at the Instituto Militar de Engenharia (Military Engineering Institute) in Rio de Janeiro, completing her construction engineering degree in 1950.
While in Brazil, Zúñiga joined the foreign service, becoming a cultural attache, which began a diplomatic career of more than 30 years. She represented her country in Greece, Costa Rica and Israel, where she was listed as the Chargé d’affaires in 1956 and served as dean of the foreign diplomatic corps.
She was the recipient of several awards, including:
Premio Unión y Labor Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (1947)
1997 Medal of Honor for Merit Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (1997)
Order of the Quetzal
Silver Crest from the National Council of Women of Guatemala (2001)