Dr. Emerlinda R. Roman is a professor at the College of Business Administration at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. She made history not only as University of the Philippines (UP)’s Centennial president but also as its first woman president. Aside from having been chancellor of the UP Diliman campus from 1991 to 1993 and from 1999 to 2004, Dr. Roman’s experience in university administration includes former positions as vice chancellor for administration, secretary of the university and of the Board of Regents, vice-president for administration, and member of the Board of Regents representing the faculty. She also holds important positions in several foundations, most notably as president of the UP Diliman Foundation, Inc.

Dr. Roman obtained her B.S. in agriculture from UPLB in 1972 and her master of agribusiness management and Ph.D. in business administration from UP Diliman in 1977 and 1989, respectively. She held various positions at the UP College of Business Administration before being tapped to serve the university in various other capacities. She has received several awards, including Outstanding Professor (1995); Outstanding Alumnus for Public Service, UP College of Business Administration; and Outstanding Alumnus for Academic Administration, UP Los Baños.

Dr. Roman’s most recent awards include the following: Lingkod Bayan Award, a recognition of her outstanding work in government service in 2007 conferred by the Civil Service Commission and the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, the Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur, au grade de Chevaliere conferred by the President of the Republic of France through the French Embassy in Manila in 2009, the CEO EXCEL Award (Lifetime Achievement Award) conferred by the International Association of Business Communicators in 2011, and The Outstanding Filipino Award (TOFIL) in Education in 2011 sponsored by the JCI Senate Philippines and Insular Life. This award was presented to Dr. Roman at Malacañang by President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino.

It was during Dr. Roman’s presidency when the University, after almost a quarter of a century of negotiations with the Philippine Congress, succeeded in having the University Charter amended, which now gives UP the flexibility it needs to deal with the challenges of the 21st century. Dr. Roman’s term also saw the rise of the National Science Complex and the launch of the Engineering Research and Development for Technology Program in UP Diliman, both multibillion peso programs supported by the National Government. These two programs were part of Dr. Roman’s Science and Technology thrust which is one of her ten-point agenda when she assumed the UP presidency. Faculty and staff benefits were upgraded significantly during her term – a result of the successful centennial fundraising Dr. Roman set out to do during her incumbency.

Dr. Roman has produced several publications and research papers on management control, human resource management, administrative policy, and organizational behavior and has attended numerous conferences and programs on higher education. She has been a consultant to government agencies and international organizations.