Irish ambassador to PH visits Ateneo

H.E. William Carlos, the Ambassador of Ireland to the Philippines, met with Vice President Dr. Ma. Luz Vilches and other Ateneo administrators last Tuesday, 16 August 2022, to explore potential collaborations between Ateneo and Irish universities.

His Excellency's delegation included Mr. Brian McCrohan (the Embassy’s Deputy Head of Mission), Ms. Jayanthi Thevarajah (the Head of Education Services ASEAN, Enterprise Ireland), Ms. Jannine Viray (Assistant Market Advisor for the ASEAN Region, Enterprise Ireland) and Ms. Nicole Mempin (Assistant to the Ambassador). The team touched on the challenges of expanding international relations, especially in the wake of the pandemic, and were enthusiastic about education’s role in cultural and economic exchange.

Just as keen to seek collaborative solutions were Dr. Jonathan Chua (Dean of the School of Humanities), Dr. Roberto Galang (Dean of the John Gokongwei School of Management), Dr. Raphael Guerrero (Dean of the School of Science and Engineering), Dr. Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu (Dean of the School of Social Sciences), and Ms. Karen Sunico (Director of the Office of International Relations, who joined Vice President Vilches in the discussion. Both parties quickly found similarities in strategic goals and research areas.

Topics flowed from Ulysses, to SDGs, and industry; much interest was also expressed in developing student exchanges and non-traditional forms of academic engagement, such as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). The delegation also proposed to reach out to Ireland’s technological institutes on establishing connections with Ateneo.

To conclude their visit, the delegation took a tour of the Ateneo Art Gallery (AAG) at Areté, led by Ms. Boots Herrera, the Director and Chief Curator of the Ateneo Art Gallery. Among the exhibitions they visited were the National Artists from the Ambeth Ocampo Collection, AAG’s recent acquisitions at the Ernesto and Susan Tanmantiong Gallery, and Leeroy New’s Mebuyan’s Colony at the Areté Amphitheater.