The University of the Philippines Baguio has transitioned into new leadership with the appointment of Dr. Corazon L. Abansi as chancellor.
The change of command of leadership was ushered by a ceremonial turnover from former chancellor Raymundo D. Rovillos to Abansi last April 14. She will serve as the chief executive of the UP Baguio until April 13, 2024.
Abansi’s appointment was approved by the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines in its meeting held on March 25, following the search process that commenced in January 2021.
Abansi is the third chancellor of the UP Baguio, succeeding Rovillos whose term ended last April 13.
Rovillos served three consecutive terms as chancellor of UP Baguio from 2012.
A professor of Economics, Abansi is the immediate past vice chancellor for Academic Affairs of UP Baguio. She has a B.S. in Agricultural Economics, major in Finance; an M.S. in Agricultural Economics, major in Marketing; and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, major in Natural Resource Economics, all from UP Los Baños; and an M.A. in Economics, major in Environmental Economics from UP Diliman.
In her summary of significant achievements and qualifications presented to the public as a nominee for the chancellorship, Abansi said she sees herself as a dynamic leader with significant managerial experience in higher education, a passionate teacher with sustained scholarship in multi-disciplinary research and a devoted servant of the community.
This honing of her skills in coordination, negotiation and supervision comes from over a decade of serving in leadership positions in mission-critical offices in UP Baguio, including as the university’s director of Student Affairs (2012-2015), as the director of the Institute of Management (2011-2012), and as vice chancellor for Academic Affairs (2015-2021).
Prior to joining UP Baguio, Abansi was with the De La Salle University Lipa as vice chancellor for Academics and Research.
A consummate scholar with multiple international publication awards and a consistent awardee of the One-UP Professorial Chair from 2015 to 2017, and from 2018 to 2021, Abansi has also been conferred the title of University Scientist I (2018-2020).
Her research and advocacy interests include the protection of the environment and improvement of the quality of education. Contributing to her body of work are publications in the last 10 years spawned by multidisciplinary and collaborative research projects with her colleagues from other disciplines and other universities.
Abansi in her message during the turnover ceremony said her administration will rely heavily on the collective wisdom of the UP Baguio community in taking pathways that will provide agile response to the needs of the university especially in this difficult time.
This transition of UP Baguio coincides with the 60th anniversary of the UP in Baguio since its re-establishment in 1961. – Press release
