Emil Q. Javier (born September 11, 1940) is a Filipino

plant geneticist Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars fro ...

and

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

best known for having served as the 17th

President of the University of the Philippines The president of the University of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Pangulo ng'' ''Unibersidad ng Pilipinas'') is the chief administrator and principal executive officer of the University of the Philippines. The president is elected for a single six ...

between 1993 and 1999. He was conferred the rank of

National Scientist of the Philippines The Order of National Scientists of the Philippines ( Tagalog: ''Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Agham ng Pilipinas''), abbreviated as ONS, is the highest award accorded to Filipino scientists by the Philippine government. Members of the order ...

for contributions in Agriculture in August 2019.

Early life and education

Javier was born in

Santa Cruz, Laguna Santa Cruz, officially the Municipality of Santa Cruz (), is a municipality and capital of the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 123,574 people. Santa Cruz is situated on the banks of the ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He earned his Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, his master's degree from the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

and bachelor's degree from the

University of the Philippines College of Agriculture A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

(now the

University of the Philippines Los Baños The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB; ), also referred to as UP Los Baños or colloquially as Elbi (), is a public research university primarily located in the towns of Los Baños and Bay in the province of Laguna, some 65 kilo ...

Career

Javier spearheaded the elevation the UPCA's Division of Plant Breeding into the UPLB Institute of Plant Breeding, which was approved and given funding under Presidential Decree No. 729 in June 1975, with Javier also serving as the Institute's first director. Javier served as a presidential cabinet member and chair of the National Science Development Board. He worked at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in the Netherlands as senior research fellow for the International Service for National Agricultural Research and went to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

to direct work on vegetable research and development. After a few years abroad, Javier returned to his country at the request of former President

Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...

to lead the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

as its

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Awards and honors

* 2020

Asian Scientist 100 The Asian Scientist 100 is an annually published list of 100 prize-winning Asian researchers, academicians, innovators and business leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region and a range of scientific disciplines. Recipients "must have received ...

, ''

Asian Scientist ''Asian Scientist'' is an English language science and technology magazine published in Singapore. History and profile ''Asian Scientist'' was launched as a blog in March 2011 by Juliana Chan. The blog's popularity eventually led to a partnersh ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Javier, Emil Q. 1940 births Living people Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni University of Illinois College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences alumni People from Laguna (province) University of the Philippines Los Baños alumni Presidents of universities and colleges in the Philippines Filipino expatriates in the United States National Scientists of the Philippines