The Big Man of VSU has served his term as president for a good eight years. He has now stepped down, and turned over the chair to the former Vice-President for Instruction, Dr. Edgardo E. Tulin.
It would not be surprising if you aren't familiar with who is now, 'the sixth president of VSU'. He hasn't exactly been singing along with the students very often. However, you will find that this man also has some equally interesting things about himself.
Dr. Tulin was a graduate of VSU. Yes, he enjoyed daily treks to the mountains just like you and me. He majored in Agricultural Chemistry, and pursued a career in research. He finished his Master's Degree in the University College of London in 1984. And in 1993, he earned his PhD in Bioreaction Engineering at the Nagoya University in Japan. He has since then acquired an impressive and extensive track record.
Dr. Tulin is a multi-awarded researcher. He currently has two patents to his name, along with seven international awards, 19 national awards, and 23 regional/institutional awards. It would be considerably tiring to enumerate all of them. But, let's take into consideration that among those awards are:
‘The Visayas State University's Exemplary Academician Award, 2007'
‘The Eduardo Quisumbing
Medal for Outstanding R & D Award
for BasicResearch, 2007'
'The 2008 Norman Borlaug
Fellow for Agricultural Biotechnology
of the United States Department of
Agriculture' (Dr. Tulin was the first
Filipino to receive this)
'The 2009 PNHRS National Mentor Award for Health Research' (Dr. Tulin was the first National awardee)
'First placer for PCAARRD Outstanding Basic Research in 2006, 2008, and 2011' (Yep, thrice)
'The 2014 Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award' (The highest award attainable by a government official of the country).
Service-wise, Dr. Tulin has also been instrumental in the operations of the university. He has served as the Vice-President for Planning and Resource Generation from 2009-2013, and as the Vice-President for Instruction from 2014-2015.
Dr. Tulin is also well-loved as an instructor among his students. His undergraduate thesis advisees have constantly produced papers that earned various awards.
Notable of which are the Phi Delta Honor Society's Outstanding Thesis Awards for Basic and Applied Research from 2003-2006, and 2008-2011. He has not, however, limited his expertise into the college level only. Dr. Tulin has also produced award-winning research advisees in the high school and elementary level. This only shows that his passion for teaching extends far beyond his office.
I suppose this is why our former president has so much confidence in him. While it is true that awards are not the sole measure for effective leadership, these things show that the man in our Administration office is someone competent and capable. For the next years, the stewardship of our beloved university rests on the shoulders of one Edgardo E. Tulin. In him we have the highest of hopes.