Dr. Exaltacion Lamberte
Conferred AY 1995-1996
Professional Profile:
Immediately after my Post-Doctoral Study at the Kennedy School in Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA, 1994-1995, the late Bro Andrew Gonzalez, FSC with the assistance of Isagani Cruz, PhD, then the Society’s President, conferred to me the honor and membership to the DLSU University Fellows Society. That was something unexpected because at that time, the Society was known to be an elite group composing of highly esteemed persons and administrators within the campus.
Being a Society member was beneficial in that it enhanced my character as educator and researcher, and also, widened my social science commitment and formation opportunities. It paved the way for the myriad avenues for scholarly works, foreign travels and exchange in foreign institutions either as Visiting Professor and/or Visiting Researcher and other disciplinal engagements. This, I appreciated highly, especially in working with DLSU and then, President Brother Andrew. The fellows’ fine-dining and exchanges with him while enjoying the sumptuous meal, personal notes indicating tasks, and commendations when tasks were done according to his standard, all helped in nurturance and formation of the character, “what Tata E. Lamberte” is now.
In return, I resolved to pass on the opportunities provided and to exert efforts to help the University develop into a full-grown world-class research university providing quality education at par with the best universities in the ASEAN region and in other parts of the world, difficult and challenging as they are. In my discernment, I believe I had contributed personally to this mission in many ways, minute and significant as they are.
First, together with the other champions advocating the importance of research engagements in higher education and in the total development of Philippine society, I facilitated and helped established an enabling environment for research to take roots within the campus. This was done through advocacy and work geared toward enhancement of institutional arrangements making University administration-friendly with research work. The institutional reform, specifically the university’s decentralization and top-management’s decision and initiatives, made the efforts much lighter, although difficult because of varied constraints.
Second, by coming up with faculty formation and training program design that were aligned with university initiatives, we helped provide the faculty-researchers with opportunities to develop or refine their research skills. We were lucky as research advocates because at the time when we worked on these institutional reforms and formulating research-friendly policies in addition to capacity enhancement activities, DLSU was devoting efforts in rapidly upgrading its status from a “College to a “University”. The late Brother President Andrew came up with a mandate making research as a non-negotiable requirement for faculty vertical status mobility. The succeeding top and second-tier administrators were also supportive of the mission and efforts.
Third, we made the Social Science research arm, the Social Development Research Center to what it is now, that is, enjoying more than three-decade of institutional life endowed with blessings of continued funding making possible engagements in research projects and other related endeavors sustained.
Fourth, while undertaking funded projects, I nurtured faculty researchers who up to the present time, are doing research, publishing their works while some became administrators. They have become experts on their own fields.
Lastly, through my research projects I brought in and integrate my graduate students, making them more motivated to engage in social science research research. Most important is the bringing in of “new research findings and methodological innovations” from the field thus contributing to the enhancement of classroom teaching methodologies and to the expansion of the social science knowledge frontier.
These personal achievements made me thankful to God and to St. La Salle as our patron as educator for bringing me in the University service at an appropriate time using as instruments former Dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts, the late Drs. Exaltacion C. Ramos and Han Van Peer. These achievements facilitated fulfillment as educator, researcher and social scientist. After retiring from full-time engagements at DLSU in 2012, I find it meaningful to maintain links and nurturing relationship with our Research Center and faculty researchers as well as graduate students through continued research engagements. This link is even extended to those who completed their graduate courses at the University and are working with various institutions within the country and region. Networking and linkages remain and dynamic with Less efforts but with More significant outcomes.