By Chi A. Ibay, images by Jefferson Villacruz

Twelve individuals and a residential area on campus received the Gawad Tsanselor, the highest recognition bestowed by UP Diliman for excellence and outstanding accomplishment.

Selected by a jury of peers, the individual awardees include three professors, four REPS, one researcher in Filipino, three students and one administrative staff. This year, the award was re-spelled in Filipino from the 1995 title of Gawad Chanselor. With the new name came a new venue: the Institute of Biology Auditorium at the National Science Complex.

Natatanging Guro. Three faculty members were recognized as Natatanging Guro: Dr. Rizalinda L. De Leon and Dr. Henry N. Adorna, both from the College of Engineering (CoE) and Dr. Jose Ernie C. Lope from the College of Science (CS).

An associate professor at the CoE’s Department of Chemical Engineering, De Leon was recognized for “… kahusayan … sa pagtuturo, pananaliksik at gawaing administratibo at gawaing extension, bagay na kinilala ng Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers nang iginawad sa kanya ang karangalan bilang Outstanding Professional.” Adorna, Professor 4 at CoE’s Department of Computer Science, was cited for proving that “kayang gampanan ng isang fakulti ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas ang maging isang mahusay na guro, isang produktibong mananaliksik at isang episyenteng administrador.” Professor 4 at the Institute of Mathematics, Lope was cited “para sa kanyang natatanging kahusayan sa pagtuturo at pananaliksik sa larangan ng partial differential equations at mathematical modeling.”

The lone Natatanging Mananaliksik sa Filipino was Dr. Apolonio B. Chua, Professor 12 at the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature of the College of Arts and Letters (CAL). He was recognized for his “masugid at masinsing gamit ng wikang Filipino sa pagtuklas ng karunungangbayan. Para rin ito sa kanyang walang-kapagurang pagtulay ng buhay-akademiko sa kaalamang-bayan na naglandas sa matalisik na saliksik at malikhaing kathang taglay ang tatak ng kahusayan, karangalan at paglilingkod ng pambansang pamantasan.”

Natatanging REPS. Four were named Natatanging REPS (Research, Extension and Professional Staff): Frederick C. Delfin and Miguel Paolo P. Reyes, both
in the category of Research; Sharon Maria S. EsposoBetan as Professional Staff; and Dr. Amelia E. Punzalan, who received the award posthumously in the category of Extension.

Delfin is from the Natural Sciences Research Institute. He was recognized, among others, “para sa kanyang natatanging gawain sa larang ng henetika ng ebolusyon at populasyon ng tao lalo na ng kasaysayan ng henetika ng populasyon ng Pilipino, na maaaring maging mahalaga sa larang ng forensics at medisina.” Reyes, who is from the Third World Studies Center of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, was cited “para sa lawak at tapang ng kanyang mga gawaing pampananaliksik, na sumasakop mula komparatibong panitikan at pag-akda (authorship) hanggang demokratisasyon at kultura sa akademya.”

Esposo-Betan was recognized “sa pagiging tagapanguna sa transpormasyon ng Aklatan ng Kolehiyo ng Inhenyeriya tungo sa isang makabagong IT facility para sa pananaliksik pang-inhenyeriya, na kinilala sa loob at labas ng bansa.” She is from the CoE Library. Punzalan, from the National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development, was chosen “para sa kanyang natatanging mga ambag at pangunguna sa pagpapalaganap ng pagaaral sa aralin (lesson study) sa pamamagitan ng pagsasanay sa mga guro, pananaliksik, at pagiging tagapayo sa mga estudyante, na nagbunga ng mga makabagong paraan ng pagtuturo sa loob ng silidaralan at pagpapalakas sa mga programa sa pagpapaunlad sa mga guro sa mga paaralan at pamantasan sa iba-ibang panig ng bansa.” She passed away in March 2015.

Natatanging Mag-aaral. Four students were named Natatanging Mag-aaral: Jhesset Thrina O. Enano, BA Journalism at the College of Mass Communication; Raphael Aaron A. Letaba, BS Business Administration and Accountancy at the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business; John Paul M. Sawali, BS Civil Engineering at CoE; and Tiffany Grace C. Uy, BS Biology at CS.

Pablo C. Navarro of CAL was chosen as Natatanging Kawani while Hardin ng Doña Aurora was Natatanging Pook, the award accepted by Alan Navida and Imelda Fe.

Each awardee received a cash incentive and a trophy depicting a sculpture of the Oblation as a work-in-progress, ‘non-finito’. Designed by College of Fine Arts professors Jamel Joseph A. Obnamia and Jose Manuel L. Sicat, the 13-inch polyester resin trophy represents the awardees’ continuing service to the University and the nation. The trophy made its debut in the 2014 Gawad Chanselor program.

In his welcome remarks, UPD Chancellor Michael L. Tan briefly walked the audience through the award’s 20-year history, noting the changing categories and fluctuations in the number of awardees throughout the period. He also pointed out the number of awards garnered by the academic units, noting that CS has the highest number of Guro and REPS awardees. He also said a number of units had none or only one awardee.

Tan made a few suggestions. The first was to include constituents of the UP Integrated School in the nominations; the second was to be more proactive in looking for potential awardees and tapping into the SET (Student Evaluation of Teachers) scores. He said there is a need to make the awardees more visible as models for UP by having them give talks in seminars or present papers in a symposium.

Livening up the ceremony were performances by the UP Dance Company, the UP Filipiniana Dance Group and the UP Staff Chorale. The event was organized by a steering committee headed by Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Benito M. Pacheco, with the vice chancellors for Administration, Research and Development, Student Affairs and Community Affairs as members, along with directors of the offices for Instruction, Information, Human Resources and Initiatives in Culture and the Arts. The artistic program was helmed by Prof. José Estrella of CAL’s Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts.