Luis Antonio de Larrauri Oct 17, 2013:

curatoris civilis I agree with Mark. I have seen a case in the Internet where a man has a "título pregrado" (pre-degree title, perhaps?) of "Ingeniero Civil", and the specialization is as "Magistri Scientarum curatoris civilis", so Mark's guess makes more sense. Disregard therefore my answer below.

Mark MacDermot Oct 16, 2013:

How can 'curator' mean 'engineer'? I agree with the suggestion of the original poster, Jose Caceres, that an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering is being referred to. The parallel example he gives and the apparent absence of viable alternatives among the degrees offered by the university both point that way. However, the language remains a puzzle. 'Curator' needs to refer to a type of person, not a field of study, ('engineer' not 'engineering'), but 'Master of the Sciences/Learning of a Chemical Engineer' would be an acceptable way of describing the degree. How, then, can 'curator' mean 'engineer'? The usage might go back to officials like the 'curator aquarum', 'curator viarum' and such like. Although they were more like overseers than technical experts, the scope of responsibility of several types brings them close to engineers. Perhaps this was the consideration which justified the expression to those who first used it for 'engineer' in a modern context.

Veronika McLaren Oct 15, 2013:

I would say ad gradum magistri generally means Master's degree, including one from the U. of P.R.

Luis Antonio de Larrauri Oct 14, 2013:

Curator Curatores son siempre los "trustees".