Biography:Kurt Freund Ruf

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Kurt Freund Ruf
Born
Kurt Alfredo Freund Ruf

1948 (age 77–78)
EducationUniversity of the Pacific (MS, 1969)
Imperial College London (PhD, 1973)
OccupationChemist, businessman, university administrator, columnist
TitleRector of the Universidad del Pacífico (c. 2018–2021)
President of the Ecuadorian–Israeli Chamber of Innovation and Commerce (2021–present)

Kurt Alfredo Freund Ruf (born 1948) is an Ecuadorian chemist and businessman. He trained as an organic chemist under Derek Barton at Imperial College London and was one of the authors of the first total synthesis of bikaverin (1975–76). In Ecuador he ran the family paint company Pinturas Wesco and held a series of business and public posts, among them president of the Cámara de Industriales de Pichincha (1993) and chairman of the state telephone company EMETEL (1995–96). He was rector of the Universidad del Pacífico from about 2018 to 2021, has led the Ecuadorian–Israeli Chamber of Innovation and Commerce since 2021, and writes a column for El Comercio.

Early life and education

Freund was born in 1948.[1][2] His family owned Pinturas Wesco, a paint manufacturer in Quito, until the brand was sold to Pintulac.[3]

He took a master's degree in chemistry at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in 1969. His thesis, supervised by Herschel Frye, dealt with palladium complexes of imino acids[4] and was published in Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry Letters in 1971.[5] He then went to Imperial College London for a doctorate in Barton's laboratory. His thesis, The synthesis of linear aromatic systems, was accepted by the University of London in 1973.[6] Out of this work came the synthesis of bikaverin, a fungal pigment, which Barton's group announced in Chemical Communications in 1975 and described in full in Perkin Transactions 1 the following year. Freund was one of the six authors, with Barton, Louis Cottier, Fulvio Luini, Philip Magnus and Ignacio Salazar.[7][8]

Business career

Freund joined Pinturas Wesco in 1971 and later ran the company.[1][9][10][11] From 1980 he was also executive president of the chemical firm Interquim and a director of Banco Amazonas, a bank whose board he later chaired.[1][2]

In 1993 he was president of the Cámara de Industriales de Pichincha, the industrialists' chamber of Pichincha Province, and spoke for it in the debate over the privatisation programme of President Sixto Durán Ballén.[12] A 2021 profile in Revista Líderes also lists him as a former president of the Federación Nacional de Industriales and a former director of the Comisión Ecuatoriana de Energía Atómica, the Federación Ecuatoriana de Exportadores and the Cámara de la Industria Automotriz Ecuatoriana.[13]

In 1995 and 1996 he chaired the board of EMETEL, the state telephone company, while the government was trying to sell a stake in it.[14][15][16]

His later business has been in energy. He chairs the board of HJ Becdach, the Quito firm behind the Expo Oil & Power trade fair,[17][18] and in June 2022 he was elected to the board of the newly formed Cámara de Energía del Ecuador.[19][20] In November 2023 he was chairman of the board of the Empresa Eléctrica Quito, the city's electricity utility.[21]

Universidad del Pacífico

Freund was the founder and eventually rector of the Universidad del Pacífico, a private university in Quito and Guayaquil, from about 2018 until 2021.[11][22][23][24][25] While there he co-wrote a 2019 article on green chemistry and the circular economy for the university's journal Carácter.[26]

He used the post to argue publicly about energy policy. In 2020 he called for biomass and geothermal energy to be added to Ecuador's electricity master plan,[18] and in 2021 he made the case for green hydrogen as a future export.[24]

Ecuadorian–Israeli Chamber of Innovation and Commerce

Freund is president of the Cámara de Innovación y Comercio Ecuatoriano-Israelí (CICEI), launched in Quito on 29 November 2021 to encourage trade and investment between Ecuador and Israel.[27][28] At the launch he pointed out that Ecuador exported far less to Israel than its neighbours did and said the chamber's main job would be to bring Israeli technology into the country.[28][13] He and a CICEI delegation travelled with President Guillermo Lasso on his visit to Israel in May 2022.[29]

Writing

Freund has written a weekly column for El Comercio since at least December 1980, mostly on energy, technology and the economy.[30]

Books

  • Humanismo, ciencia y tecnología. Quito: Graficart, 1986.[31]
  • Mitos, falacias y nuevos paradigmas: apuntes sobre la modernidad (with Fabián Corral and Pablo Lucio Paredes). Quito: Cedigraf, 1992.[32]
  • Modernizar la mente: enfoque frente a la globalización y el siglo XXI. Quito: FUNDACYT, 1997.[33]
  • "La gestión educativa", in Visión a futuro de la educación. Quito: Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, 1999.[34]
  • El mundo en que vivirán nuestros hijos. 2021. ISBN 978-9942-86-335-5.[35]
  • Ensayos sobre la libertad (compiled with Ramiro Rivera; includes his chapter "¿Qué es la libertad?"). Samborondón: Universidad Espíritu Santo, 2025. ISBN 978-9978-25-275-8.[36]

Scientific papers

  • Freund, K.; Frye, H. (1971). "Palladium(II) complexes of cyclic imino acids". Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry Letters. 7 (1): 107–109.[5]
  • Barton, D. H. R.; Cottier, L.; Freund, K.; Luini, F.; Magnus, P. D.; Salazar, I. (1975). "Synthesis of bikaverin". Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications (15): 646.[7]
  • Barton, D. H. R.; Cottier, L.; Freund, K.; Luini, F.; Magnus, P. D.; Salazar, I. (1976). "Total synthesis of bikaverin". Journal of the Chemical Society, Perkin Transactions 1 (5): 499–503.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 International Who's Who in Energy and Nuclear Sciences. Harlow: Longman. 1983. ISBN 0-582-90110-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=QCBRAAAAMAAJ. "FREUND, Kurt Alfredo. Born: 1948 … MS (Pacific) chemistry; DIC (Imperial College) chemistry; PhD (Imperial College) chemistry. Executive president, Interquim SAC, 1980; Director, Banco Amazonas … Pinturas Wesco SA, 1971" 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "[Author note on Kurt Freund Ruf"] (in es). Vistazo (Guayaquil: Editores Nacionales) (741–746). 1998. https://books.google.com/books?id=LL0wAAAAYAAJ. "Kurt Freund Ruf -1948-, ha ocupado importantes cargos en la vida empresarial del Ecuador. Defensor del programa de modernización del Estado, ha sido presidente de los directorios del Banco Amazonas … Emetel". 
  3. ↑ "USD 12 millones para levantar una fábrica de pinturas en Calacalí" (in es). Primicias. 4 May 2024. https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/economia/fabrica-pinturas-pintulac-calacali-ecuador/. "Con su marca Wesco, adquirida hace dos décadas a la familia Freund, tiene presencia desde el 2019 en Costa Rica, El Salvador y Guatemala." 
  4. ↑ Freund, Kurt Alfredo (1969). Palladium complexes of imino acids (MS thesis). Stockton, California: University of the Pacific. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Freund, Kurt; Frye, Herschel (1971). "Palladium(II) complexes of cyclic imino acids". Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry Letters 7 (1): 107–109. doi:10.1016/0020-1650(71)80135-6. 
  6. ↑ Freund, Kurt Alfredo (October 1973). The synthesis of linear aromatic systems (PhD thesis). Imperial College London, University of London. hdl:10044/1/20421. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Barton, Derek H. R.; Cottier, Louis; Freund, Kurt; Luini, Fulvio; Magnus, Philip D.; Salazar, Ignacio (1975). "Synthesis of bikaverin". Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications (15): 646. doi:10.1039/C3975000646A. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Barton, Derek H. R.; Cottier, Louis; Freund, Kurt; Luini, Fulvio; Magnus, Philip D.; Salazar, Ignacio (1976). "Total synthesis of bikaverin (6,11-dihydroxy-3,8-dimethoxy-1-methylbenzo[b]xanthen-7,10,12-trione)". Journal of the Chemical Society, Perkin Transactions 1 (5): 499–503. doi:10.1039/P19760000499. PMID 943408. 
  9. ↑ (in es) Guía comercial de Quito. 1990. https://books.google.com/books?id=RQlGAAAAYAAJ. "Kurt Freund Panamericana Norte … Km. 6 1/2 (Wesco)" 
  10. ↑ (in es) Colombia exterior. 1997. https://books.google.com/books?id=SBNGAAAAYAAJ. "PINTURAS WESCO S.A. … Dr. Kurt Freund, Panamericana Norte Km. 7,5 … Quito, Ecuador" 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Consejo Rector" (in es). Universidad del Pacífico. http://www.upacifico.edu.ec/web/universidad/nuestra-trayectoria/consejo-rector.html. "Kurt Alfredo Freund Ruf, PhD. Rector. … Expresidente Ejecutivo de Pinturas Wesco; Expresidente de la Cámara de Industriales de Pichincha; Expresidente de la Federación Nacional de Cámaras de Industrias" 
  12. ↑ Acosta, Alberto; Ojeda Segovia, Lautaro (1993) (in es). Privatización. Quito: Centro de Educación Popular. https://books.google.com/books?id=lgO8AAAAIAAJ. "Freund Ruf, Presidente de la Cámara de Industriales, refutó las … CONAM" 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Jumbo, Betty (27 December 2021). "Kurt Freund: 'Ecuador está abierto a la inversión israelí'" (in es). Revista Líderes. https://www.revistalideres.ec/lideres/kurt-freund-ecuador-comercio-inversion.html. "Ocupó la Presidencia de la Cámara de Industriales de Pichincha y la Federación Nacional de Industriales. Fue director de la Comisión Ecuatoriana de Energía Atómica, Federación Ecuatoriana de Exportadores, Cámara de la Industria Automotriz Ecuatoriana" 
  14. ↑ LatinFinance (Latin American Financial Publications) 70. 1995. https://books.google.com/books?id=lRu3AAAAIAAJ.+"Freund, president of Emetel's board, stressed that the privatization process should be taken seriously". 
  15. ↑ (in es)Vistazo (Guayaquil: Editores Nacionales) (674–680). 1995. https://books.google.com/books?id=0K0wAAAAYAAJ.+"Según el doctor Kurt Freund, presidente del Directorio de Emetel, este retiro afecta el desarrollo de las telecomunicaciones en el país". 
  16. ↑ Galarraga, Eduardo, ed (1996) (in es). El Comercio: 90 años de historia. 2. Quito: El Comercio. https://books.google.com/books?id=kFYhAQAAIAAJ. "Kurt Freund, presidente de Emetel" 
  17. ↑ "Expo Oil & Power es una vitrina para que las empresas internacionales conozcan el mercado nacional" (in es). Radio Pichincha. 24 September 2019. https://www.radiopichincha.com/expo-oil-power-es-una-vitrina-para-que-las-empresas-internacionales-conozcan-el-mercado-nacional/. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Singh, Nanda (27 May 2020). "Sugieren incorporar biomasa y geotermia al Plan Maestro de Electricidad de Ecuador" (in es). Energía Estratégica. https://www.energiaestrategica.com/sugieren-incorporar-biomasa-y-geotermia-al-plan-maestro-de-electricidad-de-ecuador/. "aseguró Kurt Freund Ruf, rector de la Universidad del Pacífico y presidente del directorio de HJ Becdach" 
  19. ↑ "Cámara Ecuatoriana de Energía se constituye en el país" (in es). Prensa Minera. 20 June 2022. https://prensaminera.org/camara-ecuatoriana-de-energia-constituye-pais/. 
  20. ↑ "Miembros del directorio" (in es). Cámara de Energía del Ecuador. https://cedeecuador.com/miembros-del-directorio/. 
  21. ↑ "Empresa Eléctrica Quito celebra sus 68 años de vida institucional" (in es). Empresa Eléctrica Quito. 22 November 2023. https://www.eeq.com.ec/w/la-empresa-electrica-quito-celebra-sus-68-anos-de-vida-institucional. "Kurt Freund, presidente del Directorio EEQ" 
  22. ↑ "Rector de Universidad del Pacífico de Ecuador visitó Santo Tomás Temuco" (in es). Chile: Universidad Santo Tomás. 15 April 2019. https://enlinea.santotomas.cl/actualidad-institucional/rector-universidad-ecuador-visito-santo-tomas-temuco/135832/. 
  23. ↑ "Charla sobre nuevas tecnologías y empresas" (in es). Universidad del Azuay. 10 December 2020. https://www.uazuay.edu.ec/noticias/charla-sobre-nuevas-tecnologias-y-empresas. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "El hidrógeno verde debe formar parte incuestionable de la futura planificación energética de Ecuador" (in es). Energía Estratégica. 15 July 2021. https://www.energiaestrategica.com/el-hidrogeno-verde-debe-formar-parte-incuestionable-de-la-futura-planificacion-energetica-del-ecuador/. 
  25. ↑ "El mundo de nuestros hijos" (in es). Universidad del Azuay. 16 October 2021. https://www.uazuay.edu.ec/noticias/el-mundo-de-nuestros-hijos. "ex Rector de la Universidad del Pacífico" 
  26. ↑ Freund, Kurt; Muñoz, John; Cevallos Camacho, Andrea (31 December 2019). "Los aspectos y principios básicos de la química verde, la ingeniería sostenible, la sostenibilidad y la economía circular" (in es). Carácter 7 (1). doi:10.35936/caracter.v7i1.56. ISSN 2602-8476. 
  27. ↑ "Ecuador e Israel fortalecen su relación con el lanzamiento de la Cámara de Innovación y Comercio" (in es). El Telégrafo. 1 December 2021. https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/empresariales/172/ecuador-e-israel-fortalecen-su-relacion-con-el-lanzamiento-de-la-camara-de-innovacion-y-comercio. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Kurt Freund: Fomentar que la innovación y la tecnología de Israel sean incorporadas a Ecuador" (in es). El Universo. 4 January 2022. https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/economia/kurt-freund-fomentar-que-la-innovacion-y-la-tecnologia-de-israel-sean-incorporadas-a-ecuador-nota/. "La Cámara de Innovación y Comercio Ecuatoriano Israelí (Cicei) se lanzó el 29 de noviembre con el objetivo de profundizar en tres ejes: comercio, inversiones y educación entre Ecuador e Israel." 
  29. ↑ "Ministros y empresarios acompañan a Lasso en su viaje a Israel" (in es). El Comercio. 7 May 2022. https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/politica/ministros-empresarios-viaje-lasso-israel-acuerdo/. 
  30. ↑ "Kurt Freund Ruf" (in es). El Comercio. https://www.elcomercio.com/author/kurt-freund/. 
  31. ↑ Freund, Kurt A. (1986) (in es). Humanismo, ciencia y tecnología. Quito: Graficart. https://books.google.com/books?id=8SoxAAAAIAAJ. 
  32. ↑ Corral Burbano de Lara, Fabián; Freund, Kurt; Lucio Paredes, Pablo (1992). Jervis Simmons, Santiago. ed (in es). Mitos, falacias y nuevos paradigmas: apuntes sobre la modernidad. Quito: Cedigraf. OCLC 30138727. 
  33. ↑ Freund, Kurt A. (1997) (in es). Modernizar la mente: enfoque frente a la globalización y el siglo XXI. Quito: Fundación para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FUNDACYT). OCLC 69974261. 
  34. ↑ (in es) Visión a futuro de la educación. Quito: Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Unidad Coordinadora de Programas. 1999. ISBN 9978-41-055-4. https://biblioteca.bne.gob.ec/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=45807. Retrieved 5 September 2026. "La gestión educativa por Kurt Freund Ruf" 
  35. ↑ Freund Ruf, Kurt (2021) (in es). El mundo en que vivirán nuestros hijos. ISBN 978-9942-86-335-5. 
  36. ↑ (in es) Ensayos sobre la libertad. Samborondón: Universidad Espíritu Santo. October 2025. ISBN 978-9978-25-275-8. https://uees.edu.ec/descargas/libros/2025/ensayos-sobre-la-libertad.pdf. Retrieved 5 September 2026. 



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