Nora Cruz Quebral was a pioneer in the discipline of

development communication Development communication refers to the use of communication to facilitate social development. Development communication engages stakeholders and policy makers, establishes conducive environments, assesses risks and opportunities and promotes in ...

in Asia and is often referred to as the "mother of development communication", giving birth to an academic discipline and training many scholars in that field. Among her students were internationally known devcom educators and practitioners such a
Felix Librero
Pedro Bueno
Antonio Moran
Alexander Flor
Rex Navaro
an

Her landmark 1971 paper entitled ''Development Communication in the Agricultural Context'' and her leadership of what was then the UP College of Agriculture's Department of Agricultural Communication, paved the way for academic programs in development communication at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). That institution later became the UPLB College of Development Communication (CDC), where Quebral served as Professor Emeritus. In three separate terms spanning 17 years, from 1966 to 1985, Quebral served as the chairperson of the various earlier incarnations of what later became the CDC, where her colleagues referred to her by her initials, "NCQ". She also served as a consultant and founded the Nora C. Quebral Development Communication Centre, Inc., which conducts development communication projects in health, the environment, and agriculture. She received the first Hildegard Award for Women in Media and Communication in 2007.

Development communication

The former dean of the UPLB College of Development Communication, noted that: Quebral has, time and again, redefined development communication over the years, rethinking its basic tenets and reorienting her definition to fit the evolving challenge of development. These revisions to her definition of the field have served as guides towards new directions for the numerous scholars and practitioners of the field. While she first gave a definition for the development communication in 1971, her latest revision, presented in 2001, delineates the field as:

Educational background

Quebral graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts, BA in English from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1950. She then earned her Master of Science, MS in agricultural journalism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as US International Cooperation Agency and Philippine National Economic Council scholar in 1956-57, and then received her Doctor of Philosophy, PhD in communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign as Rockefeller Foundation scholar in 1963-66.

Early career

While a student, Quebral worked as secretary at the Claims Service of the United States Army, US Army. When she graduated in 1950, she served as a debate shorthand, stenographer of the Labor Management Advisory Board. In 1952, she became a Copy editing, copy editor of the journal Philippine Agriculturist, starting her career in what was then the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA), now the University of the Philippines Los Baños. In October 1954 UPCA, then 45 years old, instituted the Office of Extension and Publications (UPCA-OEP) with Quebral was one of its three Filipino staff members, adding an extension component to its mission, in addition to instruction and research. This office became an academic department in 1960, founding Quebral's career as a faculty member.

Pioneering the field of development communication

In 1971, she delivered her paper ''Development Communication in the Agricultural Context'' at a UPCA symposium in honor of its outgoing dean, Dioscoro L. Umali. Drawing from the works of Alan Chalkley, Wilbur Schramm, and Daniel Lerner, among others, she coined a definition of the field outlining its basic theory and practice. In that paper she noted that: The UP College of Agriculture was declared an autonomous unit of the University of the Philippines system the following year, 1972, and was reborn as the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). Quebral's department was renamed the Department of Development Communication the following year, 1973, and opened the Master of Science in development communication program — the Philippines' first academic degree program in Communication. The next year, UPLB's university council approved the Bachelor's degree, bachelor's program in development communication. When the PhD program in development communication received approval in 1976, the DDC became the first in the world to offer degree courses in development communication at the undergraduate, masters, and doctorate levels. She also founded a development communication program in Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan in the late 60's.

Retirement

The DDC was elevated into the Institute of Development Communication in 1987, and Quebral took an early retirement the following year, after 28 years in the academe. She set up the Nora C. Quebral Development Communication Center, Inc. (NCQDCCI) and focused on professional practice and research. She was later named Professor Emeritus at UPLB CDC, where she consulted with experts and scholars in development communication. She was awarded an LSE honorary doctorate in 2011. In 2013, she was given the UP Alumni Association’s Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Quebral, Nora 1926 births 2020 deaths Academic staff of the University of the Philippines University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Filipino women academics Filipino media scholars University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Media alumni