Carnegie and Las Campanas Observatory; science and instrumentation highlights

In this talk, I will give a brief description of the role played by the Carnegie Institution for Science (former Carnegie Institution of Washington) in the history of astronomy during the last century and the need to establish an observatory in the southern hemisphere at the end 1960, which became Las Campanas Observatory. I will discuss the current and future availability of telescopes and instrumentation in LCO, as well as the most recent scientific discoveries made in LCO and the opportunities that open up for the Chilean astronomical community.