Alfredo Pascual

Alfredo Fermin Espinosa Pascual (born July 7, 1948)^[1] is the 20th President of the University of the Philippines. He was a member of the Board of Regents, the University's highest policy-making body, representing the alumni with the position of Alumni Regent. Pascual is the first non-faculty member to hold the University of the Philippines presidency.

He is also the convenor of the Automated Election System (AES) Watch, an independent, multi-sector coalition that monitored and assessed the Philippines’ first ever nationwide poll automation in May 2010.^[2]

Early Years and Education

Born to Armando Pascual and Melania Espinosa, Pascual graduated valedictorian from the University of Santo Tomas High School.^[1][3] He then enrolled in the University of the Philippines Diliman and took up B.S. Chemistry, and graduated cum laude in 1969. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the same university in 1972.^[4]

He attended the EC-ASEAN Teacher Program on the Management of Strategic and Organizational Change at the Euro-Asia Center of the Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) in Fontainebleau, France.^[4]

Career

Academe

His early career was spent teaching at the Department of Chemistry of the University of the Philippines College of Science as an instructor before joining Ateneo de Manila University's departments of management engineering and business management as a part-time lecturer. He would later become the American Express Foundation Professor of Financial Management from 1980 to 1989, Master of Business Management program chair, and director of Advanced Bank Management program at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).^[4]

Pascual received an honorary Doctor of Pedagogy (Ped.D.) degree from Angeles University in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines on April 21, 2012.^[5][4] He was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Sciences (Sc.D.) by the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of the City of Manila) on April 13, 2015.^[6]

Business and Finance

Pascual was department manager of Procter and Gamble, project manager of Bancom Development Corporation, vice-president of Philippine Pacific Capital Corporation (now RCBC Capital), First Metro Investment Corporation, and State Investment House, Inc. He was also corporate board director of the Mutual Fund Company of the Philippines and other corporations in China, India, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands.

In the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Pascual worked as a senior investment officer in the private sector department. He then became director of its Private Sector Infrastructure Finance Division and Capital Markets & Finance Sectors Division.^[4] Pascual later served as advisor on public-private partnership in infrastructure.

As UP President

Dr. Pascual emerged as the victor among the 11 nominees for the presidency of the University of the Philippines in 2011.^[7] Some of the other nominees were: School of Economics professor and former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, former College of Law dean and Inquirer publisher Raul Pangalangan, National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) chair and former university vice president for academic affairs Ma. Serena Diokno, former Department of English & Comparative Literature chair Consolacion Alaras, former chancellors Sergio Cao of University of the Philippines Diliman and Luis Rey Velasco of University of the Philippines Los Banos, and Social Weather Stations fellow and School of Labor and Industrial Relations professor Virginia Teodosio.^[7]

His administration masterminded the upcoming implementation of the e-UP Project, groomed to be integrated and university-wide information and communication technology (ICT) of the University.^[8] Pascual also oversaw the launch of the experimental UP Diliman Automated Guideway Transit system project, in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology.^[9] The University also entered into an agreement with the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Network, known as the "Fact-Check" project for faculty members to appear regularly in forums related to the 2013 Philippine general election.^[10]

Affiliations

Pascual is a Trustee of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and chairperson of the University of the Philippines Foundation and the U.P. Provident Fund, among others. He is a member of the Management Association of the Philippines, the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), and the Rotary Club of Makati.^[11]

References