Sergio Fajardo Valderrama (; born 19 June 1956) is a Colombian politician and mathematician. Fajardo served as the Governor of

Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch. Antioquia may also refer to: * Antioquia Department, Colombia * Antioquia State, Colombia (defunct) * Antioquia District, Peru * Antioquia Railway The Antioquia Railway ( es, Ferrocarril de Antioquia) i ...

from 2012 to 2016. He first entered politics in 2003 when he was elected Mayor of Medellin, the second-largest city in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and the capital of

. Fajardo was the vice presidential nominee of

Antanas Mockus Aurelijus Rūtenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas (; born 25 March 1952) is a Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician. He has a master's degree in philosophy from the National University of Colombia, and a Honoris Causa PhD from the U ...

in 2010, finishing in second place after losing the runoff against Juan Manuel Santos and Angelino Garzon. Fajardo brands himself as a pragmatic politician with no particular ideology, with political analysts and media outlets in Colombia labelling him as a centrist politician not tied to the traditional parties in Colombia. In July 2017, Fajardo announced his campaign to run for president in the upcoming elections in 2018. During the

2018 Colombian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 27 May 2018. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, the second round of voting was held on 17 June. Incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos was ineligible to seek a third term. Iván Duq ...

, Fajardo finished third in the first round. In March 2022, Fajardo announced that he would begin his presidential campaign for the upcoming

2022 Colombian presidential election Presidential elections will be held in Colombia on 29 May 2022. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, a second round of voting will be held on 19 June. Incumbent President Iván Duque is ineligible for a second term. Electoral system ...

. He finished fourth in the first round.

Early life and education

Fajardo was born and raised in Medellín, Colombia. There he graduated (high school) from the Colegio Benedictino and then moved to Bogotá to receive an undergraduate and a graduate degree (M.Sc.) in mathematics from the Universidad de los Andes in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. Fajardo later went to the United States for his doctorate degree, and earned a PhD in mathematics with a minor in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Career

Before entering politics at age 40, Fajardo taught mathematical logic at the Universidad de los Andes and the Universidad Nacional of Colombia, while also taking part of organizations such as the National Council for Sciences and the Peace Commission in Antioquia. In 2003, Fajardo was elected as the first independent mayor of Medellín. During his four-year administration, he led a significant transformation of the city, for which he was named best mayor of Colombia in 2007 and has also received other national and international awards. In 2010, Fajardo was vice presidential candidate with the also independent politician and mathematician

. From 2012 to 2015, he was elected governor of the state of Antioquia. During his administration, Antioquia experienced the best national performance in open government, transparency, and investment of oil royalties according to the National Planning Department and the Anti corruption Office of Colombia. He was named the best governor of the country in 2015 by the organization Colombia Líder. Fajardo launched his independent presidential candidacy in 2018, which was supported by the Coalición Colombia, made up of the Green Party, the Polo Democrático and his movement, Compromiso Ciudadano. In the first round of elections, Fajardo obtained more than 4.6 million votes, only 1.5% away from passing to the second round. Currently, Fajardo is professor at the School of Government and Public Transformation of the Instituto Tecnológico of Monterrey in Mexico and of the School of Political Formation of Compromiso Ciudadano in Colombia. A member of the Inter-American Dialogue, Fajardo intends to represent a Third Way inspired by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to overcome the traditional divide on the left–right political spectrum. The Colombian Communist Party accused Fajardo of trying to perpetuate the Colombian

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

system under the guise of moderation and pragmatism.

Personal life

Fajardo is father to Mariana and Alejandro Fajardo Arboleda.

Publications

* Fajardo, S., Keisler, H.J. (2002), ''Model Theory of Stochastic Processes''. Lecture Notes in Logic. Association for Symbolic Logic. A.K.Peters, Natick, MA. . * Fajardo, S. (2007), ''Medellín del miedo a la esperanza''. Alcaldía de Medellín. * Fajardo, S. (2017), ''El poder de la decencia''. Editorial Planeta.

References

External links

*
A conversation with Sergio Fajardo, former mayor of MedellínSergio Fajardo Profile at Mathematics Genealogy Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fajardo, Sergio 1956 births Living people Colombian journalists 20th-century Colombian mathematicians Indigenous Social Alliance Movement politicians Male journalists Mayors of Medellín Members of the Inter-American Dialogue University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni