This article examines the institutional construction of the Fundación para la Educación Superior y el Desarrollo (Fedesarrollo) in Colombia in the 1970s. This case study allows for the analytical review of how the U.S. think tank model was adopted by the Colombian academic center and how the Ford Foundation played a fundamental role in exporting this type of institution to the country with its technical and financial support in line with the "Brookings model". With respect to the methodology, semi-structured interviews as well as internal documents from Fedesarrollo and the Ford Foundation were utilized. It is concluded that this Colombian academic center assumed the typical functions of a U.S. think tank.