Chaná was the son of Julio Chaná Reclus and Ana Cariola Villagrán.[1] His brother Pedro served as Ambassador of Chile to Portugal between 1962 and 1965.
He studied at the Colegio San Pedro Nolasco in Santiago and later law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC), obtaining his law degree in 1931. He subsequently taught commercial law to both law and economics students.[1]
Between 1954 and 1964, he served as Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.[2] He was also president of the Legal Academy and was awarded an honorary doctorate (doctor honoris causa) by the same institution.[1]
He served as an associate justice (abogado integrante) of the Supreme Court of Chile between 1954 and 1964 and of the Court of Appeals in 1988. In addition, he was Superintendent of Insurance Companies, Corporations, and Stock Exchanges between 1952 and 1962.[1][2]
From his senior university post, he promoted the agreement signed on 30 March 1956 with the University of Chicago for advanced training, which gave rise to the group of students known as the Chicago Boys. This group would later lead the transformation of the Chilean economy during the military dictatorship headed by General Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
In the early 1960s, he served for five months as Minister of Mining by appointment of President Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez.[1][2]
In his role as a business association leader, he served as president of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce between 1980 and 1985, and as president of the National Chamber of Commerce between 1985 and 1986.[1][2]