(Dr. Herman Lagon’s introduction to our incoming School President, Fr. Joseph Raymund Patrick Sanchez, SJ during the Installation Rites held June 21, 2019)
The 12th School President of Ateneo de Iloilo-Santa Maria Catholic School is a relatively young Jesuit, a scholar, an educator, a formator, a pastor, and a manager—in short, he is an Atenean leader-by-design.
He is one of the few persons in the planet having four master’s degrees in his cap.
- Leadership and Educational Change in a consortium course in Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Columbia University in New York
- Pastoral Ministry and Philosophy in Ateneo de Manila University
- Business Administration in University of the Philippines-Diliman
On top of this, he is also a double undergrad courser of The Ateneo in Sacred Theology and in Management Engineering, a quota course. In fact, he is a product of ADMU since Preschool.
From all these, you can already deduce what subjects he has taught in his younger years in Ateneo and Miriam College: Physics, Mathematics, Economics, Religion, and Philosophy--basically, the favorite subjects of most of us.
From the ground, he rose up to become an Associate Principal for Academics in Ateneo de Manila University and campus ministry coordinator and chaplain of Ateneo de Davao University. He had a six-month stint in Ateneo de Iloilo as School Chaplain seven years ago, before he was assigned as School Director of Colegio de Santo Ignacio de Loiola in Timor Leste in 2014-2016. He was the School Treasurer and Director for Formation in Loyola College of Culion, Palawan in 2017. Thereafter, he became a student mentor in Loyola University, Chicago, and finished his Tertianship in Portland, Oregon, USA.
So basically he has experienced and has seen in the flesh how a school works in almost all shapes, sizes, places, and persuasions. Thus, it is understandable if some may call him an Atenean leader-by-design, one of the humblest renaissance men of our generation, our no-nonsense 12th School President of Ateneo de Iloilo-Santa Maria Catholic School, Fr. Joseph Raymund Patrick Sanchez of the Society of Jesus. (Ripples/Herman Lagon)