Facundo Bueso Sanllehí

Bueso and his brothers, Francisco and Andrés, were enrolled in the Escuela Modelo de la Universidad. An experimental school of the Education Faculty of the University of Puerto Rico established in 1902 (presently called "Escuela Laboratorio Elemental de la Universidad de Puerto Rico").

Classes were conducted in English, a language Bueso and his brothers did not speak.

Consequently, he was initially placed in the fourth grade but was later reassigned to a grade corresponding to his age.

Facundo Bueso Sanllehí (February 5, 1905 – January 24, 1960) was a physicist, educator, science communicator and athlete.

He was born on February 5, 1905, in Mexico City, Mexico.

He was born in Mexico City on February 5, 1905.

His father, Francisco Bueso, was a master carpenter from Valencia, Spain, and his mother was Eulalia Sanllehí, hailed from Cataluña, Spain.

He had an older brother named Francisco ("Paco") and a younger brother named Andrés, who became a painter.

Among his teachers were Albert A. Michelson (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1907) and Arthur H. Compton (Nobel Prize, 1927).

His family was forced to flee to Spain in 1915 because of the Mexican Revolution.

In 1915, due to the Mexican Revolution, his family was forced to flee to Barcelona, Spain.

Later, they moved to Puerto Rico to work for Rafael Margarida in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.

Later in 1917 the family moved from Spain to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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.

("Escuela Superior de la Universidad de Puerto Rico")

Bueso spent a year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with the intention of studying Electrical Engineering.

After that year he returned to Puerto Rico and enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico (1924).

He became a Teaching Assistant of Physics before obtaining his B.S. degree (1926–1927).

He worked at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus from 1926 to 1960.

He was a Physics Professor, Chairman of the Department of Physics, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

He worked at the University of Puerto Rico as Assistant Instructor in Physics (1926–34) before he had completed his Bachelor degree.

He occupied the positions of Professor of Physics, Chairman of the Department of Physics, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences.

In 1927 he obtained a B.S. degree in Physics (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.

He entered the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (R.O.T.C.) program; served as the President of the Student and Faculty Council in 1927; and became a member of the Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity.

He obtained a B.S. degree in Physics from the University of Puerto Rico in 1927 graduating Magna Cum Laude.

Upon graduation, he was awarded the Scoville Medal from the Department of Physics and the Proficiency medal from the R.O.T.C.

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.).

He served as Second Lieutenant in the Puerto Rico Army National Guard from 1927–1929.

He obtained an M.S. degree in Physics from the University of Chicago in 1929.

Facundo Bueso obtained a Master of Science degree in Physics from the University of Chicago in 1929.

In 1940 and in 1941 he received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for Physics for studies in the field of band spectra.

In 1941 he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

The title of his thesis was 'On the Spectrum of Germanium Tetrachloride and possibility of Nitrogen Isotopes.' He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago in 1941.

His doctoral thesis was titled 'Rotational Analysis of the 2900Å Band of CO2+". His thesis advisor was Robert S. Mulliken who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1966 six years after Facundo Bueso's death. Facundo Bueso received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in 1940 and 1941.

In 1943 he was named Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences.

Facundo Bueso was the first person to hold that position.

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.

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.

Bueso died on January 24, 1960, when the motor boat in which he traveled was overturned near Isla Verde, Puerto Rico.

He was an excellent communicator of science and participated in many radio and TV programs.