MEXICO CITY – Bernardo Garza Sada, founder and former chairman of Mexico’s Grupo Alfa, died in Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon state, where he had lived, the company said Sunday. He was 79.

“Leader and visionary businessman, promoter of education and social responsibility, driving force for the growth of the company and the country,” the company said of Garza Dada, who died Saturday and was chairman of the board of directors for Alfa for two decades.

Garza Sada died in a private hospital, Mexican media reported.

He was one of the key figures pushing for the modernization of the Monterrey Institute of Technology, one of Mexico’s most prestigious private universities.

Grupo Alfa, formed in 1974, is one of the largest Mexican industrial consortia and has operations in the petrochemical and synthetic fiber sectors (Alpek), in food (Sigma), automobile parts (Nemak) and telecommunications (Alestra).

Alfa, among its other activities, is also focused on producing machinery and televisions and pursues activities in the tourism sector.