December 5, 2015, 1:30p.m. – THE CHAIRMAN and chief executive officer (CEO) of Union Bank of the Philippines is set to receive an honorary doctorate from UST for his contributions to the modernization of the Filipino banking industry.
Justo Ortiz will receive his honorary doctorate in the humanities in a special University convocation on Dec. 11 at Medicine Auditorium.
At 19 years old, Ortiz was recruited by Citibank, the consumer banking division of the American banking giant Citigroup, as a management trainee. Ortiz became one of the bank’s youngest Filipino officers, serving as managing partner for global finance and country executive for investment banking.
Ortiz, a magna cum laude graduate of Ateneo de Manila, was later tapped by the Aboitiz conglomerate to head UnionBank. Ortiz steered UnionBank to become one of the leading and most stable banks in the country, and led innovations in digitization such as online financial services.
UnionBank donated P50 million for the digitization and publication of the UST Miguel de Benavides Library’s “Lumina Pandit” exhibit in 2011, helping preserve the rare books collection and archives of the University.
Ortiz has been named one of BusinessWorld’s top CEOs, and is labeled as one of the most tech-savvy CEOs in the country. He was awarded the CNBC Asia Talent Management Award in 2014 for his commitment to honing the skills and talents of young people.
Ortiz is the second person this year to receive an honorary doctorate from the University, following Mercury Drug founder Mariano Que last September. R.A. DR. Narra
