July 8, 2015, 12:04 p.m. – UST’S top scientist has been
elected to the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) as an
“academician,” one of the body’s highest distinctions.
Prof. Fortunato Sevilla III is only the third Thomasian to
be named as academician of the UP-dominated NAST, following Alfredo Santos
(physical chemistry) in 1978 and Gregorio Zaide (history) in 1985.
The title will be formally conferred on Sevilla on July 9 in
ceremonies at the Manila Hotel.
Sevilla earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry in UST
in 1968, and obtained both his master’s and doctoral degrees in instrumentation
and analytical science from the University of Manchester Institute of Science
and Technology in the United Kingdom.
He served as director of the UST Research Center for the
Natural Sciences in 1987 and was later appointed assistant to the rector for
research and development. He was dean of the College of Science from 2002 to
2008.
In 2014, Sevilla was given a festschrift—a volume of
writings by various authors presented as a tribute to a scholar—to honor his
contributions in the field of chemistry, a first in the field of sciences and
the second published by UST.
The NAST is the highest scientific advisory body to the
government and the country’s premier recognition and advisory body on science
and technology. It recognizes outstanding achievements and provides incentives
to those engaged in science and technology research. Daryl Angelo P. Baybado
(Photo from graduateschool.ust.edu.ph)
