Originally from the province of Arauco, he completed his studies at the Enrique Molina de Concepción High School, and then studied Agronomy at the Penquista House of Studies, from which he graduated in 1964 with the distinction of the University Award, for having been the best student of his class. The following year, he entered a nascent Agricultural Research Institute in Chillán, the INIA Quilamapu, where he would make a brilliant career as a researcher for the Wheat Improvement Program for 39 years.
During this period, he worked on the generation of varieties destined to promote the national wheat sector and the country's food. It generated 21 varieties of wheat adapted to different agro-ecological zones in central and south central Chile, also allocating an important part of its time to meetings with farmers to train them in aspects of sowing, handling and harvesting wheat.