1999 UNAM strike who signed a statement saying they could not afford the new rates. A group of students quickly organized a protest, on the grounds that thousands of students would have to see their studies interrupted unable to afford tuition. With the support of the community, UNAM was shut down temporarily by the protesters during part of February and also part of March 1999. Ultimately on April 20, 1999, this group referred to itself as the Comité General de Huelga (CGH or "Strike General Committee") and declared a continuing, if not permanent, closure of the university. In June 1999, the 132-member government
Mexicans in 1936), were established during the first half of the 20th century. Most of the new research institutes were created within UNAM. Twelve institutes were integrated into UNAM from 1929 to 1973. In 1959, the Mexican Academy of Sciences was created to coordinate scientific efforts between academics. In 1995 the Mexican chemist Mario J. Molina shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Paul J. Crutzen and F. Sherwood Rowland for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone. Molina, an alumnus of UNAM, became the first Mexican citizen to win the Nobel Prize in science.