The Real Colegio Complutense was created in 1990 by an agreement between Harvard University and the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. RCC’s activities and programs are approved by the Academic Council, co-led by the President of Harvard University and the Rector of UCM, with five members from Harvard University and five from UCM.
The current Director of the RCC and representative of UCM in the United States is José Manuel Martínez Sierra, Professor of Constitutional Law at the UCM. He was appointed by the Rector of UCM with the approval of the President of Harvard University.
RCC’s mission is to promote academic, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two institutions, through fellowships, scholarships and activities. Universidad Complutense de Madrid provides the funds. In addition, foundations, universities, and private companies underwrite some of the expenses of seminars that are held at the RCC.
RCC is unique: Harvard has no similar agreement with any other country. Its creation was due, in large part, to the mutual interests of the Rector of the UCM at the time and the then-president of Harvard, Derek Bok. The King has always been very supportive; he inaugurated the building in 1993. The original ten-year agreement was renewed in 2009.
