UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, SJ, and Mathematics and Psychology Professor Queena Lee-Chua, Ph.D., share many things in common. They are both excellent mathematicians. They are both working for the improvement of Philippine education.
Now, they are both honored in the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)’s “50 Men and Women of Science,” for their contributions in their respective fields. Nebres received a citation for being an “Education Icon,” while Lee-Chua was cited as an “Outstanding Science Communicator.”
The 50 Men and Women of Science is one of the many activities organized by the DOST to commemorate its golden jubilee last June. Depending on its eight different categories, awarding ceremonies for the nominees will be held from July to September.
Level up
Nebres’s citation includes a number of projects in partnership with the DOST and other government offices.
During the 1990s, he chaired a DOST project to improve science and engineering in about 30 colleges and universities in the Philippines.
Nebres also helped develop Ph.D. programs in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics during the 1970s and the 1980s, when Ph.D programs on the scences were non-existent.
“We had very good undergraduate programs here…but we didn’t have any good graduate programs…so I felt I should concentrate on that,” Nebres said.
Apart from other scientists
All of Nebres’s efforts have been geared towards creating an environment that allows the youth to succeed. “I tried to put together these institutions…[but] I did not work alone,” he said.
Nebres has been working with the DOST for 30 years. Out of all the awards or citations he received, he said he likes this one the best. “It’s really something I worked for in a long time. It’s not a side thing,” he said.
Simpler language
On the other hand, Lee-Chua’s passion to spread the value of understanding science is shown through her published works, which include books, articles, lectures, columns, and other communication tools.
Having both degrees in Math and Psychology, her goal has always been “to make science and math learning fun through simpler, more understandable language.”
She said she uses a lot of psychology methods, like motivation, in teaching Math 11 or Math 12.
“I give them techniques that will help them learn Math in a better way, in a more enjoyable way,” she said.
Likewise, Lee-Chua said that she makes Psychology more scientific in a sense that she teaches what science tells about it. “Psych…everybody knows it eh, diba? But people don’t know that Psych is a science [too],” she said. “It has to be based on research.”
S&T in the future
For Lee-Chua, the Philippines can improve by being scientific. “Like it or not, this millennium is governed by science,” she said.
Most economically-advanced countries—Singapore, South Korea—are governed by science, Lee-Chua added.
“I think the only way the Philippines can improve as a country is for its people to be [knowledgeable in science].”
