Assistant bio professor is next Xavier U president

By CONG B. CORRALES
Associate Editor

XAVIER University-Ateneo de Cagayan’s board of trustees elected an assistant professor in biology as the next university president over the weekend.

In a statement posted on their website yesterday morning, Xavier board chairman Francisco Guerra III announced that they have chosen Fr. Mars Tan to succeed Fr. Roberto Yap.
Yap would soon assume as president of the Ateneo de Manila University.

“We thank Fr. Mars for his gracious acceptance of this important mission of leadership. We also thank Fr. Bobby for his enormous contributions to the University and Northern Mindanao over these past nine years,” Guerra said.

Fr. Tan, a Surigaonon, holds a doctorate degree in Environmental Science from the University of Notre Dame in Australia, a masters degree in Environmental Science from the University of the Philippines, a masters degree in Theology from the Loyola School of Theology in Ateneo de Manila University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Ateneo de Davao.

Fr. Tan has deep roots in Mindanao — he was born and grew up in Surigao del Norte. He taught in XU High School from 1992 to 1994, and is currently a member of the board of trustees and director of XU’s McKeough Marine Center. Tan also served as rector at the Loyola House Jesuit Community for nine years.

Fr. Yap said he is confident that Xavier would be in good hands with Fr. Tan as the university president.

“He has also been a very good friend and brother, always ready to share my joys and hopes, challenges, and aspirations for Xavier-Ateneo,” Fr. Yap said. “I have been edified on how he practices cura personalis for each Jesuit under his care. As a colleague, he has always been supportive of the many initiatives and projects which we both consider as crucial for XU.”

Since 2009, he has been assistant professor at the Xavier’s Biology Department. His other leadership roles include memberships in the boards of the Manila Observatory and Xavier Science Foundation, Guerra said.

He said Fr. Tan’s teaching, research, publication, and advocacy have focused mainly on environmental concerns. His doctoral dissertation was on “Sedimentation dynamics of the Cagayan de Oro River catchment and its implications for the coastal marine habitats of Macajalar Bay.”

Tan has led XU projects,including the Ridge-River-Reef Project, Mineral Recovery Project, Mangrove Mapping in Macajalar Bay, Coral Resource Assessment and Marine Debris Audit, Building an Integrated Methodology for Water Resources Assessment/Management in Urban Coastal Areas, Guerra added.

“As a passionate environmental scientist, he is a proponent of the Jesuit Universal Apostolic Preference, ‘To collaborate in the care of our Common Home,’ very much responsive to the call made by Pope Francis in his landmark encyclical, Laudato Si,’” Guerra said.