Outstanding individuals chosen for 2025 Traditional University Award

Ateneo de Manila University is set to recognize seven outstanding individuals for its 2025 Traditional University Awards.

The Traditional University Awards is the University's highest recognition for individuals and organizations who exemplify the values espoused by Ateneo de Manila. Chosen by the Board of Trustees, this year's awardees are a group of individuals who exemplify excellence in their chosen fields. The selection was announced through a memo from the Office of the President on Friday, 15 August 2025.

Leading this year's honorees is Bangladeshi photojournalist and educator Shahidul Alam, who will be conferred an honorary degree. Alam is being recognized for his contributions to photojournalism, both as a practitioner and educator, at the same time advocating causes of democracy, human rights, social justice, and climate change in Bangladesh, his home country. He also has significant connections to Ateneo, through the Ateneo Asian Center for Journalism (formerly called the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism) and the Ateneo Center for Asian Studies.

The Ozanam award will be conferred on the husband-and-wife team of Jose Dean Sola and Josefa Ardis Sola, for their work in He Cares Mission. He Cares Mission, which they established in 1996, is a Christian nonprofit organization dedicated to helping street children meet their basic needs. The award, named after St Frederick Ozanam, who founded the St Vincent de Paul Society, honors "Christians who have given distinctive and continued service to their fellowmen in accordance with the principles of Justice and Charity."

The Lux in Domino award, meanwhile, will be posthumously given to Jose Noel Olano. A Management Engineering graduate, Olano “lived the Ignatian teachings” through a lifetime of service—from teaching in Cebu with the Jesuit Volunteers Program to defending human rights with Amnesty International Philippines and supporting the indigenous Manobo-Pulangiyon people of Bukidnon. The award recognizes Ateneo de Manila alumni who embody "the noblest ideals of… [the] University."

The Parangal Lingkod Sambayanan, recognizing exceptional public service, will be awarded to John Burtkenley Ong. A BS Physics alumnus, Ong – who now works at Ateneo de Davao University – has used his expertise in physics and hydrogeology to help marginalized communities, including assisting the Mangyan in Mindoro map their ancestral lands and studying floods and landslides across the Philippines.

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, meanwhile, is this year's Government Service Awardee. Cacdac is recognized for his nearly 20-year career protecting and championing the welfare of overseas Filipino workers.

Finally, Soledad Reyes -- Ateneo Professor Emeritus and Filipino literary heavyweight -- will be awarded the Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi. Reyes is recognized for her pioneering and impactful work in Filipino literary criticism, cultural history, and scholarship. 

This year, the Traditional University Awards will be conferred during the Special Academic Convocation on Thursday, 4 December 2025, which will be held at Hyundai Hall in Areté.