After the end of the Spanish Civil War and the establishment of General Franco's military dictatorship, Mercedes Rodrigo, the first professional psychologist in Spain and director of the National Institute of Psychotechnics, went into exile in Colombia in 1939. Rodrigo was invited by Agustín Nieto Caballero, the rector of the National University of Colombia, to establish a psychotechnical selection service for university students. From 1940 onwards, she began selecting candidates for admission to the University's School of Medicine. Given the excellent results of this initial experience, it was decided to apply the selection process to other programs, including the school of engineering, the law school, the school of Nursing, the National Pedagogical Institute, and the Teacher Training School, among other public institutions. The success of Rodrigo's work led to her being entrusted with personnel selection in other institutions, both public and private, such as the National Police, the Bayana Brewery, and the Bogotá Municipal Tramway Company. In 1947, Rodrigo also assumed responsibility within the University's Psychotechnics Section for providing psychological support to students experiencing difficulties adapting to university life. The success of Mercedes Rodrigo's projects convinced the National University Council to transform the Psychotechnics Section into the Institute of Applied Psychology of the National University. The new Institute would have six sections: Child and Adolescent Psychology, University Psychology, Administration, Research, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Teaching. This Teaching Section would become the foundation of the University's new School of Psychology, from which the first graduating class of professional psychologists would emerge in 1952.