Nicanor "Nick" Baptista Reyes Sr. (born ''Nicanor Reyes Icasiano''; January 2, 1894 – February 9, 1945) was a Filipino educator. He was the founder and first president of the

Far Eastern University Far Eastern University (), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a Private university, private research non-sectarian university in Manila, Philippines. Created by the merger of Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business and ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

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 ...

Biography

Nicanor Reyes was born to Francisco Reyes and Macaria Baptista in Trozo, Manila. He earned an A.B. in 1915 from 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 ...

, a bachelor's degree in Commercial Science from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1917, and a Master of Arts degree in Business Administration from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

the following year. He received his Ph.D. in Accountancy from Columbia - the first Filipino to do so, which was also the first degree of its kind to be awarded by Columbia. Reyes was married to Amparo de Leon Mendoza and had five children.

Death

Towards the end of the Pacific War, during the Battle of Manila, the retreating Japanese forces killed Reyes and members of his family: his wife, and two youngest children on February 9, 1945 at their residence along

Taft Avenue Taft Avenue (; ) is a major road in southern Metro Manila. It passes through three cities in the metropolis: Manila, Pasay, and Parañaque. The road was named after the former Governor-General of the Philippines and President of the United Stat ...

. Their remains are buried at the Manila Memorial Park.

Legacy

* In 1970, the FEU Institute of Medicine, School of Medical Technology, and FEU Hospital were converted into a non-stock, non-profit educational foundation, the FEU - Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation. *In 1994, in commemoration of his birth centennial,

FEU Diliman FEU Diliman, formerly known as FEU FERN College, is an educational institution at Sampaguita Avenue, Mapayapa Village, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1994 to commemorate the birth centennial of Dr. Nicanor B. Reyes Sr., founder ...

was established. * Morayta Street in

Sampaloc, Manila Sampaloc is a district of Manila, 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 is ...

wherein the university is situated has been renamed after him.

References

Academic staff of Far Eastern University 1894 births 1945 deaths Columbia Business School alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni {{Philippines-academic-bio-stub