Jose Ernie C. Lope, PhD, professor at the UP Diliman (UPD) Institute of Mathematics (IM), is the new president of the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society (SEAMS). A former SEAMS vice president, Lope will serve from 1 Jan. 2026 to 31 Dec. 2027.
According to the SEAMS website, the organization was established in 1972 and aims to further mathematics education and foster communication and cooperation among mathematicians in Southeast Asia and throughout Asia.
The current IM director, Lope was a former UPD vice chancellor for community affairs (1 Aug. 2018 – 30 June 2020).
He specializes in partial differential equations, mathematical modelling, and applications of mathematics in the life and physical sciences; and has mentored over 20 graduate IM students.
For his outstanding and significant research work, Lope received numerous prestigious awards. He is a recipient of the UP Scientist III under the UP Scientific Productivity System (2021-2023 cycle), the 2020 National Research Council of the Philippines Achievement Award, the 2015 UPD Gawad Tsanselor para sa Natatanging Guro, the 2012 National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) – Third World of Sciences Prize for Young Scientists (mathematics), and the 2006 NAST Outstanding Young Scientist in the field of mathematics.
Lope received his BS mathematics (summa cum laude) from UPD in 1994. He then pursued and earned his MS and PhD in mathematics from Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan in 1998 and 2001, respectively. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Graz in Austria in 2004.