THE UNIVERSITY has appointed new chairpersons for the Biological Sciences, Chemistry, and Psychology departments, and a new director of the Office for International Relations and Programs.
Assoc. Prof. Dino Tordesillas will lead the University-wide Department of Biological Sciences. He succeeds Asst. Prof. Reuel Benett, who served as chairperson for three years.
Tordesillas has been president of the Philippine Society for Developmental Biology since 2023.
His research interests include microcrustacean taxonomy, ecology, and development. He is also an advocate for the translation of scientific texts into Filipino in support of the College’s goal of using Filipino as a medium in teaching science courses.
Assoc. Prof. Myreen Cleofe will be the new University-level chair of the Department of Psychology, replacing Assoc. Prof. Rodel Canlas.
Assoc. Prof. Karen Katrina Trinidad ended her nearly four-year stint as psychology chair in December.
The Department of Chemistry will now be led by Prof. Felicidad Christina Peñafiel as chair. She replaces Assoc. Prof. Allan Rodel Salcedo, who had been chair since 2022.
Peñafiel sits on the board of the Kapisanang Kimika ng Pilipinas.
Her research focuses on the preparation and characterization of composite materials for supercapacitor electrodes and antimicrobial applications.
Prof. Karen Santiago of chemistry was named director of the Office for International Relations and Programs, after being associate director since 2014.
She replaces Dean Emeritus Lilian Sison, also a chemistry professor and the office’s founding director, who recently capped her nearly six-decade tenure at the University.
Santiago’s research involves the synthesis of polymer materials that may be applied to sensors and actuators, used in olfactory sensing and drug delivery systems.
