The Prince of Asturias Endowed Chair in Information Science and related technologies at the University of New Mexico was established in October 2000.  It was endowed by Iberdrola, a Spanish electric utility company, with the support of the Ministry  of Science and Technology (currently, Ministry of Science and Innovation) of Spain. The Professor selected to hold the Endowed Chair must be a pre-eminent scholar in Information Science and  related  technologies and high degree of familiarity with contemporary  Spanish society and the contemporary environment of education, government, business, science and technology in Spain; and extensive current contacts among leaders in Spain in the fields of  science, technology, energy, business and education. Professor Manuel Hermenegildo, from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and the IMDEA Software Institute, Spain, was the first holder of the Chair from 2003 to 2008.

The Chair was born with the fundamental objective of establishing a program of excellence in research and doctoral education in specific areas of great practical relevance within the fields of Information Science and Related Technologies, so that, in the realm of this program, and through the participation in it of researchers from Spain. The Chair will serve as a catalyst for joint activities between the University of New Mexico and the  Spanish universities and research institutions, both at the academic and industrial levels, within the area of Information and Communication Technologies.

The current holder of the Chair is Prof. Fernando Pérez-González, who will be in residence at UNM each fall semester of his tenure, from three to five years, teaching a graduate level course in addition to pursuing local collaborations and research. Prof. Pérez-González also continues the two positions he has held while at Spain’s Universidad de Vigo. These positions are: executive director of the Galician R&D Center in Telecommunications (Gradiant) and professor of Communication Technologies.