Welcome to University of the Philippines Geology Alumni AssociationThe teaching of geology at UP began in 1914 when service geology courses were offered for the Liberated Arts degree at the Padre Faura campus in Manila. In 1924, when Dr. Jose Ma. Feliciano returned from the US where he obtained a Ph. D. degree in Geology from the University of Chicago, the department of Geology and geography was organized. He was the first chairman of the department. He held this position until his demise in 1955.
The first students of geology were in fact graduates of mining engineering, Dr. Domingo Salita and Dr. Arsenio Gonzalez. In 1948, the University was transferred to the Diliman Campus in Quezon City. The department occupied the second floor of the third pavilion of Palma Hall, the site of the then College of Arts and Sciences. The College is now the College of Arts and Letters.
The first student to graduate with a B.S. Geology degree in the country was from UP, Mr. Adonis B. Esmilla who graduated in 1957.
With the death of Dr. Feliciano, Dr. Mateo Tupas succeeded to the chairmanship. Others who assumed the position were Dr. Arsenio Gonzalez, Professor Fernando Gutierrez, Drs. Emmanuel Tamesis, Domingo Salita, Telesforo Luna, Ernesto Sonido, Teodoro Santos, and Raymundo Punongbayan. In the 1960's, then COMVOL Chief Volcanologist Prof. Arturo Alcaraz taught structural geology in UP too.
In the 1960's, the United Nations Development Program and the United Nations Technical Assistance Board provided assistance to UP. The main objective of the Program was to train mining engineers who were working with the government and private corporations to become exploration geologists. Among those who obtained their doctorate degrees in geology, mostly from Stanford University, and later taught in the institute were Drs. Tamesis, Walter Brown and Priscilla Militante-Matias. In 1967, the MS Geology program was put into place. Mr. Domingo Malicdem became the first graduate of M.S. Geology.
Enrollment increased in 1976 to 1981 and produced the second largest batch of graduates in one year, 1977.
On September 1981, UP signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the then Federal Republic of Germany for the purpose of strengthening the geology curriculum in UP. The technical assistance was designed “to upgrade the Department of Geology of the University of the Philippines into an institution that provides an international quality practice-oriented instruction, research and extension”.
One of the requirements of the German government was for UP to build a building to house all of the equipment that was to be donated. The UPGAA board of 1980-1985, led by Dr. Arthur Saldivar-Sali raised funds from donations of alumni and money from the then Ministry of Energy starting in 1981, following the appeal of Dr. Santos, who was chairman of the department. Due to the support of then Minister Geronimo Velasco and then UP President Edgardo Angara, President Ferdinand Marcos was convinced to issue Letter of Instruction No. 1191 that approved the release of P15 million from the Oil Price Stabilization Fund for the NIGS building. On March 25, 1983, through the recommendation of then Minister of Science, Dr. Emil Q. Javier, President Marcos signed Executive Order 889 creating the National Institute of Geological Sciences as one of the four centers of excellence in the UP system.
Dr. Victor B. Maglambayan assumed the directorship of the Institute in June 2001. NIGS also revived the UP Geology Alumni Association. On November 30, 2001, The First UP Geology Alumni Homecoming was held and a new set of board members was elected. On July 27, 2002, the suspension of the Certificate of Registration of UPGAA Inc. with SEC was lifted.
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