Nine of the 12 UP faculty members who were recently appointed as professors emeriti are from UP Diliman (UPD).
The appointments were approved by the UP Board of Regents at its 1379th meeting on April 3.
Of the nine UPD faculty, six belong to the Science and Technology cluster (S&T), two are from the Management and Economics cluster (M&E), and one from the Arts and Letters cluster (A&L).
From the S&T, five are from the UPD College of Science (CS) and one from the UPD School of Statistics (STAT).
Of the five CS faculty, three are from The Marine Science Institute (MSI), and one each from the institutes of Biology (IB) and Chemistry (IC), respectively.
The M&E’s UPD National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) and the Cesar E. A. Virata School of Business (VSB) had one professor emeritus each.
Meanwhile, the UPD College of Arts and Letters (CAL) from the A&L has one professor emeritus.
S&T. The five professors emeriti from CS are Ernelea P. Cao, PhD of the IB, Irene M. Villaseñor, PhD of the IC, and Porfirio Alexander M. Aliño, PhD, Marie Antonette Juinio-Meñez, PhD, and Maria Helena T. Yap, PhD of the MSI. Lisa Grace S. Bersales, PhD is the professor emeritus of STAT.
Cao is a professor of biology at the IB.
She is one of the authors of the Fundamentals of Genetic Laboratory Manual currently used by the IB students and produced a course pack for the course Fundamental of Microbial Genetics.
Cao was a UP Scientist I in 2021 and 2016, respectively. She received the 2021 William L. Fernandez Excellence in Teaching Microbiology Award of the Philippine Society for Microbiology, the 2019 Filipino Faces of Biotechnology of the Department of Agriculture, and the 2016 Outstanding Teacher Award of the Metrobank Foundation, Inc.
She served as deputy executive director of the Philippine Genome Center (May 2011 – July 2014), IB director (August 2015 – July 2018), and director of the UP Natural Sciences Research Institute (April 2000 – March 2012).
Cao obtained her PhD (biology) from UPD in 1992, with a sandwich program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA in 1991, her MS (biology) in 1983 and BS (biology) in 1979 from UPD and UP Los Baños, respectively.
Villaseñor is a professor at the IC and head of the IC Natural Products Research Laboratory.
She is the program leader of Discovery and Development of Health Products [DDHP]: Formulation, Standardization, and Metabolic Profiling of Disease-Specific Top-Tier Plants for Pre-Clinical and Clinical Development, a multi-disciplinary, multi-institution program under the Department of Science and Technology.
Villaseñor has published more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Her research interests lie in the isolation and structure identification of bioactive compounds from Philippine medicinal plants.
She earned her doctorate, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees (chemistry) from UP in 1988, 1984, and 1978, respectively.
Aliño is an accomplished marine ecologist, known for his investigation into the nature of patterns and processes in coral reefs and associated ecosystems in the country.
A research professor at the MSI, he has done various technical assistance projects including capacity-building efforts toward planning and implementing adaptive management in coastal regions.
He has produced over 150 publications on conservation work, extension outreach initiatives, and development assistance.
Since 2019, Aliño has been the project leader of the USAID Fish Right Program, a partnership between the United States and the Philippines to improve marine biodiversity and the fisheries sector.
Aliño earned his doctorate in marine chemical ecology from James Cook University in Queensland, Australia in 1989, and both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in marine biology from UP in 1983 and 1978, respectively.
A professor at the MSI, Juinio-Meñez was the institute’s director (May 2012 – November 2015), deputy director for the MSI Bolinao Marine Laboratory (2009-2012), deputy director for Instruction (2001-2022), and deputy director for Research (1995-1996).
Juinio-Meñez was elected in 2019 as academician of the Biological Sciences Division of the National Academy of Sciences and Technology (NAST). She received The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) in the science (marine ecology) category in 2001 and was among the NAST Outstanding Young Scientist (marine biology) in 2004.
She is a recipient of various UP awards including the UP System 2nd Phase Invention Disclosure Incentive (2021), UP Scientist I (various years), One UP Professorial Chair (various years), and the UPD Centennial Professorial Chair (various years).
Juinio-Meñez earned her PhD (biological sciences) from the University of Rhode Island, USA in 1991, and her MS (marine biology) and BS (marine science, cum laude) from UP in 1986 and 1981, respectively.
Yap is a marine biologist and a professor at the MSI whose research interests are in coral reef ecology and complex systems. She has served in various international committees handling marine environmental problems.
She began as a senior research assistant at the Marine Sciences Center (now the MSI) in 1981 and became the center’s (now institute) assistant professor in 1987. She was the deputy director for the MSI Bolinao Marine Laboratory (1993-1999).
She was one of the 1998 TOWNS and was awarded the 1994 Science Prize of the NAST – The Third World Academy of Sciences. Yap was also awarded the 1992 NAST Outstanding Young Scientist in marine biology.
Yap finished her Doctor rerum naturalium (doctor of natural sciences) in Marine Biology, magna cum laude, from the University of Rostock, Germany in 1987, and both her MS (marine biology) and BS (marine biology), magna cum laude, from UP in 1981 and 1979, respectively.
Meanwhile, Bersales is the country’s first national statistician, leading the implementation of the Philippine Statistics Act of 2013 by starting the Philippine Statistics Authority, which she headed from 2014 to 2019.
She currently serves as the executive director of the Philippines Commission on Population and Development and undersecretary for population and development.
A professor at STAT, Bersales served as STAT dean twice (1996-1998, 2002-2008). It was during her deanship in 1998 that STAT changed from the Statistical Center to the STAT.
Bersales provided technical guidance for the institutionalization of regular releases of seasonal adjustment of the Philippines’ major official statistics such as the Philippines’ gross domestic product and the consumer price index since the mid-1990s.
Bersales earned her doctorate, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees in statistics from UP in 1989, 1981, and 1978, respectively.
M&E. Maria Fe Villamejor-Mendoza, PhD of NCPAG and Carlos C. Bautista, PhD of the VSB are the professors emeriti of M&E. Mendoza is a professor of public administration and public policy at the NCPAG.
She was the NCPAG dean from 2013 to 2019. She also served as the dean of the Faculty of Management and Development Studies (2007-2010), and vice chancellor for academic affairs (2010-2013) of the UP Open University. She currently serves as the interim president of the Philippine Public Policy Network, and vice chairperson of the board of trustees of the Galing Pook Foundation.
Mendoza is included in the 11th edition of The World’s Who’s Who of Women, published in 1991 by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England.
She obtained her doctor of public administration from UPD in 2003, graduate certificate in public enterprise reform and privatization from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom in 1993, and her master in development studies (major in public policy and administration) from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands in 1990.
Mendoza also finished her Master of Arts in demography from UPD in 1984 and her Bachelor of Science in education (major in mathematics), summa cum laude, from the Philippine Normal College, Manila in 1978.
A professor at the VSB and a member of its faculty since 1994, Bautista is a well-published economist in the fields of macroeconomics and finance.
He was University Scientist I of UP (2008-2010), an awardee of the UPD Gawad Chancellor for Best Researcher (2005), and a part of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council of the Department of Agriculture (1989-1992).
The VSB (then the UPD College of Business Administration) PhD program director for a whopping 25 years (1995-2020), Bautista taught core PhD courses and was dissertation adviser to students, 15 of whom earned their doctorate degrees.
Bautista was a visiting professor of the Laboratoire d’Analyse et de Prospective Economiques at the Faculte de Droit et des Sciences Economiques, Universite de Limoges in France during summers (2002-2011).
He earned his doctorate, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees in economics from UP in 1987, 1984, and 1979, respectively.
A&L. Lily Rose R. Tope, PhD of CAL is the lone professor emeritus of A&L.
A professor of English at the CAL Department of English and Comparative Literature (DECL), Tope started as an instructor at the DECL in 1985. The DECL chair from 2012 to 2020, Tope teaches general education English, introduction to literature, Asian literature, and world literature.
Among Tope’s awards are the Gawad Paz Marquez Benitez for the Teaching Literature from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas (2021), UP Centennial Professorial Chair Award (2020), UP Centennial Chair Award (various years), UP Artist I (2018 to 2020), UPD Gawad Chancellor para sa Natatanging Guro (2011), and UPD Gawad Chancellor for Teaching (Professor Category) in 2005.
She earned her PhD (English) from the National University of Singapore in 1999, and her MA (comparative literature) and BA (comparative literature), cum laude, from UP in 1985 and 1976, respectively.