dussán attended the gimnasio femenino (women's gymnasium) in bogotá, a prestigious private school which incorporated a montessori method as well as moral instruction to prepare young women to become good wives and mothers. she was one of the first group of young women in colombia who pursued higher education and a career. dussán's father died before she completed high school. she graduated in 1938 and with the consent of her mother, decided to go to europe to further her studies. she enrolled in the university of berlin studying german culture and language. and while she was in europe took the opportunity to visit many museums, seeing for the first time archeological objects from south america. she was forced to return to colombia at the outbreak of world war ii. dussán enrolled in the faculty of law at the national university of colombia in 1940, but fascinated by archeology attended lectures offered by paul rivet. after studying law through 1941, she transferred to the national ethnological institute (nei), which had recently been founded by rivet. the program was an innovative approach to scientifically based methodology, rather than rote memorization. students were encouraged to evaluate the biological, cultural and technological influences of indigenous peoples upon each other. receiving her degree in 1942, the following year, dussán married fellow student gerardo reichel-dolmatoff.