THE University of the Iloilo (UI) will install Doctor Chito B. Salazar on January 15 as its new university president in a fitting ceremony to be held at the St. Anne Parish in Molo, Iloilo City.
Salazar is the first president of the university under Phinma Inc., being the new owner of the university. He is the business unit head of the Phinma Education Network and senior vice president of Phinma.
Salazar currently holds the position as school president of three other tertiary schools owned by Phinma. He is president of the Araullo University (AU) in Cabanatuan City, Cagayan de Oro College (COC) in Cagayan de Oro City, and the University of Pangasinan (Upang) in Dagupan City.
A young but foremost educator, he is also president of the Philippine Business for Education (PBED) with the sole purpose of nurturing a consensus and sustained advocacy in education reform.
He has held various academic positions including an associate professorship at the Asian Institute of Management, as executive director of the Washington Sycip Policy Forum, and Consultant with the Institute of Environmental Studies in the Netherlands and the United Nations.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Engineering from the Ateneo de Manila University, a Masters degree in International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University and a doctorate in philosophy in International Relations majoring in International Development Management from the School of International Service, The American University in Washington, D.C.
With Salazar at the helm of the University of Iloilo, he is expected to bring in more reforms that will push UI into the orbit of academic excellence in Iloilo City.
The late Philippine Vice President Fernando Lopez founded the University of Iloilo. In April 2008, the University of Iloilo joined the Phinma Education Network by marking a milestone in the school's history.