FORMER Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) Dean Armando de Jesus died last July 2 at the age of 71 after battling prostate cancer.
De Jesus served as Artlets dean for two terms, from 2000 to 2003 and 2006 to 2009.
He taught in UST for 39 years, from July of 1972 to 2011.
In 2003, he became vice rector for academic affairs, introducing the non-thesis track in the Graduate School to accommodate more professionals.
Under his term, online faculty evaluation and faculty records were also introduced.
De Jesus ordered the conversion of librarians’ status from non-academic to academic. They are now referred to as the “non-teaching faculty.”
He was also the director of the University’s Social Research Center or SRC, and chairman of the UST Department of Social Sciences.
He worked with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on education and religious instruction and with the Archdiocese of Manila as research and development director.
Clarence Batan, director of the Research Center on Culture, Education, and Social Issues, successor of the SRC, described de Jesus as a man of integrity and an inspiration to University administrators.
“He is a man of honor and integrity and he is for me an inspiration on to how to be a leader, to be [part] of the administration,” Batan told the Varsitarian.
Batan said one of de Jesus’s greatest contributions to UST was his advocacy for improving research in the social sciences and education in the University.
“He was very clear in his analysis of the state of research and researchers in the country,” he said.
Faculty members can emulate de Jesus by continuing to improve the quality of their research, Batan added.
“They have to do research, to think and stop teaching if they do not have research basis for all things. Hindi na pwede na isa kang guro at hindi ka marunong mag-research kasi hindi siya excuse.”
Dennis Coronacion, chairman of the UST Department of Political Science, recalled de Jesus as a good administrator and a father-figure to Artlets faculty members and students.
“[H]e was always calm amid issues and problems. In fact, I didn’t see him get mad or shout at anyone. I’ve known him for his humility notwithstanding his great achievements,” he said.
De Jesus obtained his degree in theology in 1969 from UST.
He earned his master’s degree in sociology in 1995 and his doctorate in educational eanagement in 2000 from the University.
His internment will be on July 9, Sunday, at the Mount Carmel Memorial Park in Santa Maria, Bulacan.
