Leopoldo Infante

About Leopoldo

Dr. Leopoldo Infante is an accomplished astrophysicist who has played a pivotal role in the creation and development of the astronomy community in Chile. He is the first Chilean scientist to lead a professional international observatory, Las Campanas Observatory (LCO), considered among the five largest observatories in the world in terms of total collecting surface. He is a staff astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science and full professor in astrophysics at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He has maintained a connection with UVic throughout his career, including research collaborations with UVic faculty.

Cultivating talents

“When I arrived in Victoria… I learned that I was able to understand the world around me. I learned perseverance and resilience. I was with my wife and a kid alone in a country, which was foreign. We had to learn. We didn't have the support of a family network or a professional network like in Chile. I learned that even if you have talents, if you don't cultivate these talents, they're useless.”

Value of autonomy

“The main thing I owe UVic is autonomy… autonomy and independence of thought. I was taught to think for myself there, and I owe these to my professors who said, ‘Here are the options, choose one and go ahead, make a plan, write the thesis, and we'll support you.’ And that was great because I could do whatever I wanted to do. And I learned that being autonomous or being independent, it's a great value in general.”

Cultural mix

“I'm always learning with age. Over the years I learned to value the cultural mix of a society, and Canada is the perfect example. It has such a rich cultural mix, and that's different from the US.  As the global population, scientific knowledge, technological capabilities and social intelligence continue to expand, we're seeing a growing diversity in people and cultures. Because nowadays communication is instant and global, the cultural mix in more sophisticated societies is growing.”

Favourite places

“I have three favourite places in the world. The first one is a mountain top at the observatory where I'm now because it overlooks the Andes mountains and the ocean to the other side. My second-best place is my barbecue place. I have a house in the south of Chile near a lake, so I have a barbecue there and I sit there for hours looking at the lake. My third place is a favourite bench on Dallas Road in Victoria overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Every time I'm in Victoria, I go there.”