2 mathematicians vie for UP Baguio chancellorship

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – In a calculated move, Joel Addawe, a mathematics professor, submitted his bid for chancellorship of the University of the Philippines (UP) Baguio on the last day of the extended deadline on Monday, April 15.

The only other nominee is his math department colleague, Wilfredo V. Alangui.

Addawe can be considered the “purer” mathematician as his curriculum vitae showed that almost all his distinctions are academic in nature.

Alangui, on the other hand, was a vice chancellor for academic affairs in UP Baguio and head of the UPB employees’ union. He was also a board member of an international non-governmental organization on indigenous peoples in Asia.

Born in Tabuk, Kalinga, Addawe finished high school at the Philippine Science High School and graduated from UP Baguio before taking his master and doctoral studies at UP Diliman.

He was chair of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at UP Baguio and is now director of its Digital Innovation Center.

Alangui also graduated from UP Baguio and took his master’s degree in UP Diliman, although he finished his doctorate studies at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Both authored several mathematical papers, with Addawe focusing on applied math and health, while Alangui was more on ethnomathematics.

In the initial search for UP Baguio chancellorship, Alangui was supposed to contest the chancellorship against then-chancellor Corazon Abansi.

After a flurry of support for Alangui, Abansi withdrew her nomination on March 1.

On April 1, the Board of Regents (BOR) “expressed preference” for one more nominee.

”The extension of the search process for the next UP Baguio chancellor caught many constituents by surprise and generated questions,” said Alangui in a statement last April 3.

He, however, said that he would abide by the decision of the BOR.

In the meantime, Santos Jose Dacanay III was designated as officer-in-charge chancellor until a new one was appointed. – Rappler.com