Former College of Home Economics (CHE) dean Eva Beatriz Gonzalez passed away on Mar. 10.

The daughter of former UP President Bienvenido Gonzalez, she began serving the University as an instructor in 1952.

Gonzalez was instrumental in the establishment of the CHE Department of Family Life and Child Development, serving as its very first department head from 1960 to 1970.

She was an associate professor when she assumed the CHE deanship in February 1964, only the second in its history after Dean Presentacion T. Perez.

Under her guidance, the college expanded, establishing many of its now recognizable units like the Child Development Center, the Tea Room, and the Pilot Food Plant.

Gonzalez also championed the growth of home economics education, facilitating student research grants, textbook writing grants, and the creation of refresher courses. One of these grants is the Eva B. Gonzalez Professorial Chair in Home Economics Education. Along with the growth of the curriculum, she likewise strengthened the CHE library facilities to support researchers and students.  

In her last year as dean, the first ever BS Hotel and Restaurant Administration program in the Philippines was launched which was initially a joint program between the CHE and the College of Business Administration (now Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business).

Even while serving as dean, Gonzalez found time and energy to serve as UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) consultant for home economics teaching spaces in secondary schools of Asia in 1967.

Gonzalez served as officer-in-charge of the Graduate School of the UP College of Education (CEd) and later, as secretary.

The UP home economics program used to be a CEd department, where it was officially recognized as a discipline on Nov. 12, 1921. It became a separate college on July 27, 1961. Gonzalez participated in the development of the curricular programs of both units.

Gonzalez showed no signs of slowing down even after her retirement in 1970, continuing to be active in various organizations and serving as consultant in home economics education for other countries and organizations: Sri Lanka (1971–1973), Nigeria (1973–1977), Indonesia (1979), Bhutan (1984), Malaysia (1986), the UNESCO-Asian Development Bank (UNESCO-ADB, 1980), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (1982).

She published home economics teachers’ guide/college tutors’ guides in Islamabad, Pakistan (1975), Zaria, Nigeria (1977), and Lagos, Nigeria (1977).

In 1997, Gonzalez was elected president of both the Philippine Mental Health Association and the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) Regional Vice President for Southeast Asia; she concurrently held both positions until 2001. 

She represented Southeast Asia during the WFMH World Congress in Vancouver, Canada and Santiago, Chile in 1999 and 2001, respectively.

In a post on their official Facebook page, the CHE faculty and staff thanked Gonzalez for her dedicated service to the college.