History of the School of Social Sciences

The School of Social Sciences, along with the School of Humanities, John Gokongwei School of Management, and School of Science and Engineering, existed since 2000, when the School of Arts and Sciences was restructured into the Loyola Schools. It was established under the direction of Fr. Jose M. Cruz, S.J., PhD who served as dean from 2000 to 2012. Since then, the School has made a significant contribution to the broad establishment of the social sciences and social science-related area studies in the University and to the training of numerous social scientists and social science practitioners in the Philippines and other countries.

The School was based in the Social Sciences Building until 2007 when the Ricardo and Dr. Rosita Leong Hall was inaugurated as its new home. The Social Sciences Building still houses the Department of Communication and the Eugenio Lopez Jr Center for Multimedia Communication while the Department of Economics, Department of History, Department of Political Science, Department of Psychology, and Department of Sociology and Anthropology, as well as the Chinese Studies Program, Development Studies Program, European Studies Program, Korean Studies Program, and Japanese Studies Program have their offices in Leong Hall, along with the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development, Ateneo Initiative for Southeast Asian Studies, and the Anthropological and Sociological Initiatives of the Ateneo. The School of Social Sciences likewise operates from two other buildings on campus: the Ateneo Center for Organizational Research and Development and the Institute of Philippine Culture are housed in the Frank Lynch Hall while the Ateneo Bulatao Center for Psychology Services is located in the Robert Bellarmine Hall. Until the establishment of the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design in SY 2021-22, the School of Social Sciences was home to the Department of Education.

Dr Filomeno V Aguilar, Jr. (PhD in Sociology, Cornell University) was appointed as dean of the school in 2012. He was succeeded by Dr Fernando T Aldaba (PhD in Economics, UP Diliman) in 2015. The current dean, Dr Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu [Dr. rer. soc. (Sociology), Universitaet Bielefeld], was appointed in 2021.