Peinado Hernández, Rolando Enrique (1932–2001)

Rolando Enrique Peinado Hernández was an Adventist mathematician and educator from Colombia.

Education and Family

Rolando Enrique Peinado Hernández was born in Cereté, Córdoba, in Colombia on November 17, 1932.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the American College for Men of Barranquilla, Painado left the Costa Caribe (Caribbean Coast) for Medellín, Colombia, where he attended the Colombian-Venezuelan Institute. At that time, the school had 772 students.¹ A man of ambition, Peinado soon realized his native Colombia did not provide sufficient opportunity for him.² Consequently, he sought further education in the United States in the late 1950s. Peinado graduated from with a bachelor’s degree from Union College (Lincoln, Nebraska) in 1958. ³ He then pursued graduate study at the University of Nebraska, completing a master’s degree in 1960,⁴ and three years later, in 1963, a doctoral degree.⁵

Peinado married María Barros who came from an Adventist family. Together, they had two daughters, Verónica and Mónica (1961-2003), the latter of whom died in an accident caused by a drunk driver in 2003 while on her way to a midweek church service.⁶

In 1950, Peinado was editor of Anuario OMEGA (OMEGA Annual) which reported on the life of the community at the Colombian-Venezuelan Institute.⁷ His work on this campus was short-lived due to several noteworthy and disturbing events that occurred in 1950. Pastor Luis José Flórez Quiñónez,⁸ former leader of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Colombia, told the following story:

The bell rang and all the students gathered in the Auditorium (now the G. W. Chapman Auditorium). This was highly irregular! The bell never rang at that hour, much less in the middle of a class period. The professors had a serious demeanor, but made every effort to appear calm. The announcement was brief. It appeared that invaders were marching toward the campus [...] The professors and students spread out all over the campus to watch for the invaders and protect our property as best we could. Rolando Peinado and I spent several hours crouched under some bushes near the entrance to the school property [in a ready position]. The missionaries called the American consul and, thanks to their intervention, the night watch was kept by six policemen. However, the invaders never arrived.⁹

By 1953, Peinado was the journalist for the Anuario OMEGA. A section of this publication that always stood out was the “ICOLVEN Words of Wisdom,” where Peinado’s entries read as follows: “Knowledge has no saturation point.” And: “The measure of a man is not the amount of knowledge he has accumulated, but the manner in which he applies it.”¹⁰

With his multiple gifts, Peinado held many positions at the aforementioned institution, including director of the Missionary Youth Volunteers, Sabbath School secretary, and president of the Student Preachers Society and the Student Association. As a professor at ICOLVEN, he organized the chemistry department and taught courses in algebra, chemistry, among others, up until 1957. When the specialization in ministerial teaching program was offered, he registered for it and graduated with honors.

Career

After graduation from the Colombian-Venezuelan Institute, Peinado was offered the position of principal for the Adventist academy in Bucaramanga. He accepted and held that position during 1954. At that time, the school had 772 students.¹¹ Peinado taught in the Upper Magdalena Mission until he decided to move to the United States for advanced education.¹²

Peinado was successful in his work at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez campus, as professor of mathematics, dean of the School of Mathematics, and researcher. He also served as science researcher with the School of Medicine at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. Peinado traveled to Peru and to the former Soviet Union, as both professor and researcher. He enjoyed painting as a hobby and founded a theatrical company at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez campus. This company achieved rave reviews for its performances.¹³

The Final Years

Peinado retired in Florida. At the Adventist University Corporation, located in Medellín, and the Colombian-Venezuelan Institute, the news of Peinado’s death in that same city on February 27, 2001, was received with deep sadness. He was an outstanding Adventist scientist, professor, and alumnus of that same campus. His funeral service was held at the church of the Adventist University Corporation and he was buried in the Cementerio Campos de Paz (Fields of Peace Cemetery).¹⁴

The Legacy

Peinado was a distinguished scientist in later years. He worked as a researcher for the prestigious United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in California. Peinado graduated with honors from the University of Nebraska¹⁵ and was one of the five leading doctoral students in mathematics in the United States listed in Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges.¹⁶

Sources

“Directiva,” OMEGA 1950, 1950. Accessed July 17, 2019. file:///E:/Downloads/Omega%201950.pdf.

Iglesias Ortega, Enoc. En el Nuevo Milenio: Historia de la Corporación Universitaria Adventista 2010-2017 [In the New Millenium: History of the Adventist University Corporation, 2010-2017], v. I. Medellín, Colombia: Litografía ICOLVEN, 2018. Accessed February 16, 2020. http://repository.unac.edu.co/handle/11254/649.

Iglesias Ortega, Enoc. Instituto Colombo–Venezolano Corporación Universitaria Adventista. Valores y servicio 1937-2000 [Colombian-Venezuelan Institute Adventist University Corporation, Vision and Service 1937-2000]. Medellín, Colombia: Litografía ICOLVEN, 2004.

“Monica Peinado obituary.” Andrews University Focus, Spring 2004.

Peinado, Rolando Enrique. “The Generalized Module Type of a Ring.” Ph.D. diss., University of Nebraska, 1963.

Peinado, Rolando Enrique. “On the Theory of Modules.” M.A. thesis, University of Nebraska, 1960.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and herald Publishing Association, 1956.

Notes

1. William Robert Anyhel Brook, interview by the author, Medellín, Colombia, May 31, 2019.↩

2. Omaira Peinado Hernández, telephone interview by the author, July 10, 2019.↩

3. “Roberts Graduates with Highest Distinction,” Clocktower (Union College), July 8, 1958, 1.↩

4. Rolando Enrique Peinado, “On the Theory of Modules” (M.A. thesis, University of Nebraska, 1960).↩

5. Rolando Enrique Peinado, “The Generalized Module Type of a Ring” (Ph.D. diss., University of Nebraska, 1963).↩

6. Omaira Peinado Hernández, email to the author, July 10, 2019; “Monica Peinado obituary,” Andrews University Focus, Spring 2004, 31.↩

7. “Directiva,” OMEGA 1950, 1950, 1, accessed July17, 2019, file:///E:/Downloads/Omega%201950.pdf.↩

8. Personal knowledge of the author who worked in the Adventist Church in Colombia between 1976 and 2018.↩

9. Luis Flórez Q., Outlook, “A Living Miracle, As told to J. G. Nikkels (former missionary to the Colombia-Venezuela Union),” Northern Union Outlook, June 22, 1973, 1-2.↩

10. Enoc Iglesias Ortega, Instituto Colombo–Venezolano Corporación Universitaria Adventista. Valores y servicio 1937-2000 [Colombian-Venezuelan Institute Adventist University Corporation, Vision and Service 1937-2000] (Medellín, Colombia: Litografía ICOLVEN, 2004), 159, 160.↩

11. William Robert Anyhel Brook, interview by the author, Medellín, Colombia, May 31, 2019.↩

12. “Upper Magdalena Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1956), 117.↩

13. Néstor Holmes Ramírez, telephone interview by author, June 21, 2019.↩

14. Enoc Iglesias Ortega, En el Nuevo Milenio: Historia de la Corporación Universitaria Adventista 2010-2017 [In the New Millenium: History of the Adventist University Corporation, 2010-2017], v. I (Medellín, Colombia: Litografía ICOLVEN, 2018), 16, accessed February 16, 2020, http://repository.unac.edu.co/handle/11254/649.↩

15. Néstor Holmes Ramírez, telephone interview by author, June 21, 2019.↩

16. Enoc Iglesias Ortega, En el Nuevo Milenio: Historia de la Corporación Universitaria Adventista 2010-2017 [In the New Millenium: History of the Adventist University Corporation, 2010-2017], v. I (Medellín, Colombia: Litografía ICOLVEN, 2018), 16, accessed February 16, 2020, http://repository.unac.edu.co/handle/11254/649.↩