THE UNIVERSITY bade farewell to its 27 faculty retirees last March 22 at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex.
“Time flies fast. But this is not a goodbye, retirement is not the right word for this is just another turning point in our life,” said Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy professor Jose Lucido, one of the retirees who had been teaching in the University for 40 years. “This is a call to do more things in our life, even if we are retired.”
In the annual testimonial dinner hosted by UST to pay tribute to faculty members who have either reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 years old or opted for early retirement, Vice-Rector Juan Ponce, O.P. said that a professor’s work can be both time-consuming and fulfilling.
“Day in and day out, your work as a teacher filled out your life, hardly realizing the long years that had gone by,” Ponce said in his speech. “But deeply etched in your hearts are the many lives you have touched along the way, your students.”
Other retirees included Rosario Fudotan (Accountancy); Josefina Gonzales (Faculty of Arts and Letters); Concepcion Barlis and Antonia Garcia (Miguel de Benavidez Library); Eligio Alvarado, Leonardo Canoy, Jr., Jeanette Isabelle Loanzon, and Melba Santos (College of Commerce); Aurora Gonzales (UST Elementary); Whilhelm-George Nacu and Jose Tan (Faculty of Engineering); Noel Escultura, Fulvio Ma. Guerrero, Zenaida Roda, and Glory Rogers (College of Fine Arts and Design); Dante Abcede, Teresita Altre, Nerissa Cinco-Calimon, and Remedios Coronel (Faculty of Medicine and Surgery); Piedad Peña and Ma. Teresita Villasis (College of Nursing); Mirriam Cheng and Nina Gina Javier (Faculty of Pharmacy); Anthony Cura (Institute of Religion); Maria Teresa Calwit (College of Science); and Carmen Guererro (Tourism and Hospitality Management). Marc Laurenze C. Celis