P.E.P. (People, Events, Places) Outstanding Sillimanians 2012 by: CECILE M. GENOVE Four distinguished alumni are this years recipients of the Outstanding Sillimanian Awards as one of the highlights of the 111th Founders Day celebration of Silliman University. In a special convocation on August 28 at the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium, the awardees were honored in fitting ceremonies attended by their relatives, former classmates, colleagues, administrators, faculty, staff, and students.

The Outstanding Sillimanians are: Dr. Maria Christina Roble Esperat in the field of nursing, research, and administration; Atty. Kathleen G. Heceta in the field of government service in telecommunications; Dr. Enrico C. Sobong in the field of medicine; and Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor in the field of diplomacy.

Dr. Esperat, who was nominated by the Silliman University Alumni and Friends @ San Diego, graduated in 1968 with a degree in bachelor of science in nursing and finished a master of arts in nursing, major in parent-child nursing, in 1969 at Silliman University. She earned a Ph.D. in maternal-child nursing in 1990 at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. At present, she is associate dean for clinical services/community engagement and professor in nursing at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Anita Thigpen Perry School of Nursing, Lubbock, Texas since 2000. She is married to a fellow Sillimanian, OswaldoEsperat, 1965 AB Political Science/History and 1969 bachelor of laws. She has requested deferment for the conferral of her award until she would be able to come to Dumaguete by next year.

Atty. Heceta, a homegrown Dumaguetena, was nominated by the Dumaguete alumni chapter. A graduate of associate of arts in 1958 and bachelor of laws in 1962 at Silliman University, she grew up steeped in the ideals of her parents who were both staunch supporters of the university where their children and grandchildren went for their education. She retired in 2005 as deputy commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission, the governments regulatory agency attached to the Commission on Information and Communications Technology having supervision, regulation, and control over all telecommunications and broadcast services and facilities in the Philippines. She likewise served as director of the NTC Legal Department, becoming a Career Executive Service Officer (CESO) III.

Dr. Sobong, who graduated in 1967 at Silliman University with a degree of bachelor of science (preparatory medicine), cum laude, was nominated by the Silliman Alumni of South Florida, Inc. He earned his doctor of medicine degree from the University of the Philippines, Manila in 1972. After passing the medical licensure examination, he became clinical instructor in community medicine and worked at the Los Banos Primary Care Clinic, where he precepted and mentored medical students. He went to the US for his internship and residency in internal medicine with specialty training in medical oncology. Although he has retired from full-time medical practice last year, he is back in clinical practice in Palm Springs, California on a limited part-time basis.

Lawyer Ambassador Villamor, most recently, served as a member of the Silliman University Board of Trustees representing the alumni. Nominated by the Sillimanians in Metro Manila, Inc., he graduated with the degree of associate of arts (preparatory law) in 1953 at Silliman University and bachelor of laws in 1957 at the University of the Philippines. After having passed the bar examinations as well as the foreign service examination, he served the Philippine government for 44 years as a diplomat to many countries. After his retirement from the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1999, he was re-appointed in December 2006 as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Yemen, which he served until September 2010.

The annual search for Outstanding Sillimanians has yielded numerous well-placed alumni who have created a niche in their respective fields, establishing a distinctive brand of work ethics forSillimanianswhose competence, character, and faith have been recognized all over the world.

A rigorous selection process is then done with nominations coming from alumni chapters worldwide, which are then validated, recommended, and endorsed to the Board of Trustees for approval. The search starts immediately after the awards ceremony.

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P.E.P. (People, Events, Places) Outstanding Sillimanians 2012