Fidel Ronquillo Nemenzo is a Filipino mathematician and professor serving as chancellor of the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

since 2020. His areas of expertise include

number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Ma ...

elliptic curves In mathematics, an elliptic curve is a smooth, projective, algebraic curve of genus one, on which there is a specified point . An elliptic curve is defined over a field and describes points in , the Cartesian product of with itself. If t ...

, and

coding theory Coding theory is the study of the properties of codes and their respective fitness for specific applications. Codes are used for data compression, cryptography, error detection and correction, data transmission and data storage. Codes are studied ...

. He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics from UP Diliman while his master's and

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

degrees are from

Sophia University Sophia University (Japanese: 上智大学, ''Jōchi Daigaku''; Latin: ''Universitas Sedis Sapientiae'') is a private research university in Japan. Sophia is one of the three ''Sōkeijōchi'' (早慶上智) private universities, a group of the to ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, Japan.

Career

On March 2, 2020, he succeeded

Michael Tan Michael Lim Tan (born 1952) is a Filipino medical anthropologist, veterinarian, and writer who is currently a professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman (UP Diliman) College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. Tan served as the cha ...

and became the eleventh Chancellor of the

. Immediately prior to his appointment, he was vice chancellor for Research and Development of UP Diliman and is the convenor of the Center for Integrative Development Studies' Data Science for Public Policy Program. He chairs the Mathematics Division of the National Research Council of the Philippines, having been elected to the NRCP Governing Board in 2019. He was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the UP Diliman College of Science and headed its Science and Society Program. Nemenzo also served as President of both the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society (2010-2012) and the Mathematical Society of the Philippines (2004-2010).

Family

Nemenzo is the son of political scientist and former UP president Francisco Nemenzo Jr. His grandfather, Francisco Nemenzo Sr., was Professor of Zoology and Dean of the UP College of Arts and Sciences in the 1960s, who did pioneering work in the study of corals. Nemenzo is married to Dr. Ma. Victoria Raquiza, professor at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance. Their son, Julio Anton Mulawin, graduated from the UP School of Economics in 2020.

Awards

Nemenzo's awards include OneUP Professorial Chair awards and International Publication Awards which he received from the

University of the Philippines System The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 2008) ...

; the Achievement Award in Mathematics from the National Research Council of the Philippines in 2013; and the Gawad Chancellor Para sa Pinakamahusay na Guro, which he received from the

in 2005.

Political activism

The son of Martial Law era activist and later University of the Philippines President Francisco Nemenzo Jr, he has himself had a long history of political activism. He was a member of the

Student Christian Movement of the Philippines The Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP) is a youth ecumenical national democratic mass organization in the Philippines. It aims to uphold students rights and participates in numerous local and worldwide peoples' advocacies. As wit ...

. A UP student leader during the time of

martial law under Ferdinand Marcos At 7:17 pm on September 23, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced on television that he had placed the entirety of the Philippines under martial law. This marked the beginning of a 14-year period of one-man rule that would effectively last ...

, he was shot in the back during the infamous

Welcome Rotonda The Welcome Rotonda, officially Mabuhay Rotonda, is a roundabout in Quezon City in the Philippines. It is located a few meters from Quezon City's border with Manila, at the intersection of E. Rodriguez, Sr. Boulevard, Mayon Avenue, Quezon Avenue, N ...

rally shootings of September 27, 1984 and almost died from the single M-16 bullet that pierced through his body. Fellow activists attribute his survival from his wounds to the fact that he was a runner. He was known for his athleticism and healthy lifestyle in the campus. He was also a founding member of the activist musical group "Patatag". In recent years, he has strongly denounced the red tagging of UP students who have taken a stand against authoritarianism in the Philippines. On January 19, 2020, he spoke at the protest demonstration against the Department of National Defense (DND)'s unilateral termination of the 1989 UP-DND Accord which requires the police and military to notify UP officials before they enter UP campuses. During the protest, he declared that academic freedom and "UP as a safe space and a zone for free thought and free speech" have to be defended at all times.

External links

2017 TEDx Talk "Math is Language, Tool, and a Way of Seeing"

References