Zamorano was born from the inspiration and support of Mr. Samuel Zemurray, President of the United Fruit Company of the United States of America. Zemurray determined to create a high-quality center for agricultural education, dedicated to training youth from throughout the Latin American region. To realize this dream, he commissioned Dr. Wilson Popenoe, a renowned Botanist and Horticulturalist of the time, who had broad experience in the region.
For weeks during 1941, Popenoe explored the Central American highlands in search of a place to develop the project. At the end he selected a 3,700 acre ranch in the Yeguare Valley, about 20 miles east of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. The name Zamorano derives from the family that owned thehacienda and traced its origins to the province of Zamora in Spain.
Construction of the “school” began at the end of 1941. Popenoe became the Founding Director of this novel institution, serving in that capacity until 1957. From its humble beginnings, the school continued to grow, transforming itself into what is today a university of excellence at the service of the Americas.
The Pan-American Agriculture School (Zamorano) is registered as a non-profit corporation in the state of Delaware, USA. Various countries in the region grant fiscal benefits to people, businesses and organizations that support ZAMORANO’s educational programs.
