HAVING been educated at the premier state university in the country, it could be said that Dr. Miriam Edulian Pascua, the “second woman president”, is a UP Maroon; a “Iskolar ng Bayan” through and through. Her immersion to UP’s values of academic freedom and scholarship might have inspired her to apply and eventually serve the Mariano Marcos State University right after earning a biology degree from the UP College Baguio in May 1978. MMSU, at that time, was newly born, having been created in January that year.

Starting off as a young biology instructor at the College of Arts and Sciences and at the then MMSU campus in Pasuquin, little did she know that she would someday be at the helm of one of the country’s best universities.

After only two years of serving the university, she went on to pursue MS in Biology at UP Diliman under a PCARRD scholarship grant. She returned to MMSU after three years to continue her duties as instructor. In November 1984, barely a year after finishing her master’s, the United Nations Development Project/Food and Agriculture Organization and MMSU granted her fellowship to pursue a doctor of philosophy in plant breeding.

In 1989, after finishing her doctor’s degree, President Pascua finally found the College of Agriculture and Forestry as her organic academic unit and handled subjects in plant breeding and genetics. She chaired the horticulture department of the college for more than three years while at the same time served as research coordinator acting as the dean’s technical arm in the management and coordination of the college research activities.

These administrative experiences honed the president’s management style, preparing her for positions with heavier responsibilities like the CAF deanship in August 1999. As dean, Dr. Pascua strengthened the college curricular offerings through curricular revisions, improved teaching strategies, and refurbished laboratory rooms. She was also instrumental in the establishment of the tissue culture laboratory and greenhouse equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for tissue culture and biotechnology. It was during her term that the college started to operate as center of excellence in agricultural engineering and special center of development in agriculture. She served for four months as acting vice president for academic affairs while performing her duties as CAF dean.

Her rose to fame in the field of agricultural research started in 1991 when she was designated project leader of the “Garlic Industry, Philippines” funded by the International Development Research Center based in Canada. Since then, she had become either a study or project leader in various research endeavors sponsored or funded not only by MMSU but also by other national government research agencies such as the Institute of Plant Breeding, Philippine Rice Research Institute, and the Bureau of Agricultural Research of the Department of Agriculture. As researcher, she was responsible in the generation of two garlic technologies, namely: pest management and post harvest pest management.

President Pascua also initiated the improvement of the native tomato variety in terms of fruit attributes, post harvest qualities, and disease resistance and developed advance tomato lines for off-season planting. She was also responsible in the identification of an adoptable, high-yielding, and good quality rainfed lowland rice cultivar and in the establishment of a genebank of vanishing plant species in the Ilocos which are very important in the breeding program of MMSU.

President Pascua’s productive scholarship and professional research and development work have been recognized as proven by the numerous awards she has received from various regional and national research agencies, the most prestigious of which was her appointment in 2003 as Scientist I by the Scientific Career Council of the Department of Science and Technology and by the Civil Service Commission. She was cited for her productivity in terms of scientific findings, technologies, discoveries, major research papers and journal articles as well as for the acceptance of these scientific endeavors by end-users.

To date she has published scientific articles in refereed and non-refereed journals, proceedings, book series, manuals, and modules. She has attended local and international scientific conferences, seminars, and trainings either as presenter, participant or resource speaker.

She is active in various professional organizations such as the Crop Science Society of the Philippines, Society for the Advancement of the Vegetable Industry, Philippine Association of Entomologists, Philippine Society for the Advancement of Genetics, Conservation Farming Movement, Philippine Society for Microbiology, and the PCARRD Scholars Association.

Described by her constituents as efficient and conscientious administrator with excellent people skills, President Pascua knows that her stint as top CAF official has helped her “become more patient, determined, compassionate, and focused” – qualities which she needs as leader of a foremost state university in the region.

With her high stature and big achievements, President Pascua has remained unassuming, humble, and down-to-earth – virtues that are so characteristic of her family. She is the second in a brood of five who are equally successful in their respective professions. She is married to Mr. Leonardo Tango Pascua of the Cotton Development Administration and has three lovely daughters – Lei Marcelle, a clinical instructor at the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University; and Lem Micah and Lea Meriel, third and second year high school students, respectively, at the Brain and Heart of a Christian Foundation, Incorporated in the City of San Fernando, La Union.

As a professional career lady and family woman, and with the many issues and problems that beset her work, she says she anchors her life and faith to the Lord Almighty who gives her the strength and wisdom she needs in her everyday life.

With twenty-seven years of unwavering and dedicated service to the university, President Miriam Pascua vows to make MMSU a leading institution in providing manpower for a globally competitive job market, in demonstrating research and technology promotion competencies for sustainable development, and in responding positively to the challenges in a fast-changing world.