Los procesos educativos no pueden estudiarse desde opticas unicas ni aisladas, es necesario recurrir al contexto del periodo que se va a estudiar, para comprender el desarrollo de las instituciones de tipo educativo. Por ello, para el caso de la creacion de la Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), hay que considerar que el pais adopta un modelo economico que propugna la industrializacion a traves del proceso de sustitucion de importaciones, en el que el Estado inicia su incursion como empresario y empieza a exigir al sector educativo un personal tecnico calificado para que refuerce los procesos industriales que se venian desatando por todo el pais. En este articulo se aborda, principalmente, la relacion entre la UIS y la Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos (Ecopetrol), nacidas casi simultaneamente. Palabras clave: Modelo de sustitucion de importaciones, Industrializacion, Ecopetrol, Petroleo, Educacion, Universidad Industrial de Santander. Abstract The educational processes cannot be studied from some unique optical views neither isolated, it is necessary to explore into the context period that is going to be studied, in order to understand the educational institution’s development. Therefore, in the UIS, Industrial University of Santander’s creation, it is necessary to consider a country which adopts an Economical Model, and strives to become industrialized, through an imports substitution’s process, in which the State starts its role as entrepreneur, and begins to demand from the educational sector, a qualified technical personal, to reinforce the industrial process which has been unleashed all over the country. This article deals mainly, with the relationship between the UIS and the Colombian Petroleum Enterprise, ECOPETROL, which were born almost simultaneously. Key words: Import substitution’s model, industrialization, Ecopetrol, Petroleum, Education, Industrial University of Santander.