Joining the prestigious circle of professors emeriti are three outstanding UPLB academicians: Dr. Teresita Rosario, Dr. Ernesto J. Del Rosario and Dr. Ma. Cristina D. Padolina.

Dr. Teresita Rosario is an expert plant breeder from the Crop Science Cluster who has served the University for 33 years. She taught seven different courses in Horticulture, and five undergraduate and graduate courses in Genetics for the Institute of Biological Science, where she served as affiliate professor.

Her research, teaching, writing and extension work have made significant contributions to the ornamental horticulture industry. She introduced hybrid varieties of mussaenda, anthurium, aglanoema, spathoglottis orchid and gladiolus—all registered with the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC).

The breeding techniques that she developed, like the micropropagation of anthuriums using leaf and petiole explants were successfully adopted by private growers, and used by other state colleges and universities for instruction purposes. She also studied and wrote on the different production and marketing problems of the ornamental horticulture industry, and her papers were used to form strategic development plans in marketing, varietal protection and research. In 2005, the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) gave her the Achievement Award in Ornamental Horticulture.

She also distinguished herself as a writer and editor, garnering numerous awards for 48 technical papers. She was editor of the CA journal, The Philippine Agriculturist and Aggie Green and Gold and director of the UPLB Publication Office and head of the CA Publication Program, striving to make these offices better instruments of information and research extension.

Dr. Rosario finished BS Agriculture (plant breeding) and MS (genetics) at UPLB and Ph.D. (genetics) at the Pennsylvania State University. She retired with the rank of Professor 12, the highest faculty rank in the UP System.

Dr. Ma. Cristina D. Padolina rendered more than 33 years of service to the University, teaching at the Institute of Chemistry as well performing administrative duties. She has contributed greatly to the improvement of instruction in the academe through the various positions she handled such as director for instruction for UPLB, college secretary of CAS, and chair of the University Council Committee on Curriculum and Instruction, and coordinator for instruction of the Institute of Chemistry.

One of the major contributions of Dr. Padolina to UP is the initiation of distance education, originally used as a means to train science and mathematics teachers who could not come for face-to-face training sessions at UPLB. This led to the creation of a separate constituent university of the UP System that uses information and communication technology to cater to students who, for various reasons, are unable to attend traditional classes. The UP Open University thus came to being, with Dr. Padolina as its first chancellor from March 1995 to Feb. 2001.
Dr. Padolina was seconded to the Commission on Higher Education where she served as commissioner and worked on the improvement of pre-service teacher education. She also promoted further use of ICT in education, being an active member of the Information Technology and e-Commerce Council (ITECC) and the working group for the Philippine e-Library project.

The numerous awards that she received, as well as her students’ evaluation attest to her excellence as an educator. Her students marvel at her mastery of the subject matter and her effectiveness in bringing out their interest in topics they find difficult to understand. She is a recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Philippine Association of Chemistry Teachers and was named Outstanding Chemist in the Academe by the Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies in 1997.

Dr. Padolina finished BS Chemical Engineering at UP Diliman, MS (chemistry) at Ateneo de Manila University and PhD (inorganic chemistry) at the University of Texas. She retired with the rank of Professor 12, the highest faculty rank in the UP System.

In his 36 years at the University, Dr. Ernesto Del Rosario has set the standards of excellence in teaching, research and extension work. He is the originator of several courses in physical chemistry and biochemical technology, his fields of expertise, for both graduate and undergraduate levels at UPLB.

As a scientist, he has accomplished much in terms of research and technology development. He introduced several enzyme and fermentation technologies, as well as new chemical and biochemical methods for the utilization of agricultural by-products. He has to his name two approved patents for invention, duly registered in the Philippine Patent Office.

His expertise was also sought after by government agency committees formed to discuss and prepare guidelines in teaching research in chemistry and biotechnology. He was part of the group who reviewed CHED policies on the BS Chemistry curriculum, the PCARRD regulations on research dealing with the environment, and R&D principles on fuel alcohol production.

He has authored 74 technical papers, two of which earned him the Outstanding Published Paper Award (1994 and 1999) from the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). Just last year, the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) also honored him with the Outstanding Professional Award (Chemistry).

Dr. del Rosario finished BS Chemistry at UP Diliman, MS (physical chemistry) and PhD (physical chemistry) at Cornell University. He retired with the rank of Professor 12, the highest faculty rank in the UP System.