University of Santo Tomas

UNESCO Chair Partner Organisations

About Us

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) is Asia’s oldest existing university.

It is the first and the only university in the Philippines that has been awarded an overall rating of Four Stars by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Stars team from London. The rating system is operated by the QS Intelligence Unit, which is the independent compiler of the annual QS World University Rankings.

As a four-star university, it is highly international and exhibits excellence in teaching and research. UST has also achieved an impressive Five Stars rating in Employability, Facilities, Social Responsibility and Inclusiveness.

  • Professor Camilla J. Vizconde
    Camilla J. Vizconde
    Camilla J. Vizconde is Professor 3 of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). She finished her Bachelor of Science in Education (BSE) major in English in the College of Education, UST; her Master in Education (M. Ed.) major in English as a Second Language (ESL) in the University of the Philippines; and her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) major in Reading Education also in the University of the Philippines. She has obtained her Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certificate from the Regional Language Center of Singapore through a scholarship granted by the Academic Affairs Office of UST. She has held several posts such as faculty researcher under the Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD), supervising teacher for English pre-service teachers, a coordinator for the Languages Department of the College of Education, and the Assistant Director for Operations in the Educational Technology Center. Currently, she is the Chairperson for the Department of English of the University of Santo Tomas. She has authored and co-authored several researches in national and international journals in the fields of Education, Technology, Language Education and Reading Education. She has also served as a textbook evaluator for the Department of Education (DepEd). She was the Linguistics Society of the Philippines (LSP) Treasurer from 2009-2018 and currently serves as a Board Member of the Philippine Association for Language Teaching, Inc. (PALT). She is also a Regular Member of the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP).
  • Dr Gina Lontoc
    Gina Lontoc
    Gina Lontoc is a faculty member from the English Department, Faculty of Arts and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines. She earned her Master of Arts in Language and Literature Teaching from Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines. She is an active member of the Literacy and Development Group at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom where she completed her PhD. Her time in academia and in industry allowed her to organise and to serve as facilitator in national and regional training programmes for both public and private school teachers in the Philippines. Her involvement in the education of young people from marginalised communities motivated her to explore issues of gender inequalities, internal displacement, sustainable livelihoods, visual participatory methods, and indigenous peoples' education and community participation. She had been involved in international research projects in women’s literacy learning such as the Birdging the Gap Project funded by the British Association for International and Comparative Education. She also has ongoing research projects in sustainable livelihoods and adult literacy and learning.
  • Professor Belinda V. de Castro
    Belinda V. de Castro
    Belinda V. de Castro is currently the Director of the Research Center for Social Sciences and Education of the University of Santo Tomas and was also the Research Director of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Manila on secondment from July 2015 to March 2017. In her capacity as a researcher, she had been given several awards: 2014 National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Achievement Awardee, Dangal ng UST Best Published Work Awardee in 2011 and 2015 (Social Science and Education Category), Silver Series Research awardee in 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010; Gold Series Research awardee in 2012 and International Publication awardee in 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2012. To date, she had a total of twenty-one (21) international and five (5) local publications in the fields of shadow education, mathematics education, educational management, tourism and hospitality, and human resource management. She is the managing editor of the Asian Journal of Educational Research and Synergy (AJERS) since 2009 and one of the editorial board members of the Asian Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research (AJTHR) since 2007 to date. She is currently an invited reviewer of four international journals, Asia-Pacific Education Review, Education Research Journal, Current Issues in Education and Mathematical Thinking and Learning. She holds a Doctoral degree in Educational Management (2011 Magna Cum Laude), Masters of Science degree major in Mathematics Education (2000 Summa Cum Laude) and a Bachelor of Science degree major in Actuarial Mathematics (1984) from the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas. She is a professor at the UST Graduate School, handling Statistics and the UST College of Commerce and Business Administration, handling Research Methodology for Human Resource Management and mathematics courses. She also acts as statistics consultant and is being invited as resource person on topics such as Conjoint Analysis, Structural Equation Modelling, Statistics for Research with SPSS and Analyzing Quantitative Data. She is also affiliated to various organizations such as the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), Comparative Education Society of the Philippines (CESP, Board Member), Philippine Council of Mathematics Teachers (MATHTED) and the Mathematics Society of the Philippines (MSP).
  • Professor Arlen Angelada Ancheta
    Arlen Angelada Ancheta
    Arlen Angelada Ancheta, PhD in Environmental Science, is Professor 4 at the Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Santo Tomas (UST), Professorial Lecturer at the UST Graduate School, Director (2012-2015) of the Research Center on Culture, Education and Social Issues (RCCESI), UST; current Vice President Internal of Mother Earth Foundation (MEF), an NGO advocating community-based solid waste management; Vice President (2015-2017) of the Philippine Network for Environmental Educators (PNEE) and President (2017-2019) of the Philippine Society for the Study of Nature (PSSN), associate member of NRCP, and Research Interest Group team lead (2016-2018) of Sustainability Studies at the Research Center on Social Sciences and Education (RCSSED), UST and Coordinator (2016-2018), International Relations and Program of Arts and Letters. Her area of specialization in MS Environmental Science, UPLB is community-based resource management and further took PhD Environmental Science in the same university, minor in sociology, with area of specialization in social theory and the environment. Researches and publications include climate change, solid waste management, tidal stream management, urban forest park, and street children. Involved in commissioned researches with the U-Belt Consortium on Pasig river project funded by PCIERRD, DOST; CHED on Manila Bay studies; and International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) on street children. Advocacies include coastal cleaning at the LPPCHEA, Manila Bay and community-based solid waste management. To date, she is doing a research on zero waste and mapping eco-social assets. She has researches constructing disaster among the locals in urban coastal community along Manila Bay and teaches courses on environmental management, sustainable development, environmental economics, and research methods.