Lourdes T. Pangelinan (born 19 October 1954) was the first female director general of the

Secretariat of the Pacific Community The Pacific Community (PC), formerly the South Pacific Commission (SPC), is an international development organisation governed by 27 members, including 22 Pacific island countries and territories. The organisation's headquarters are in Nouméa, ...

. Pangelinan was born in 1954 in Guam and grew up in the village of

Asan Asan () is a city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It borders the Seoul Capital Area to the north. Asan has a population of approximately 300,000. Asan is known for its many hot springs and is a city of spas. Asan has grown into th ...

. She attended the Adelup Elementary School, and in 1966 her family moved to California, where she attended

Castro Valley High School Castro Valley High School is located in the unincorporated suburban community of Castro Valley, California, United States. It is a State school#United States high school for grades 9 to 12. Named a National Exemplary School in 1984–85 and 1988� ...

. She received a degree in international relations from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

in 1976. She took an additional year of postgraduate study in France. Following her graduation she worked as a journalist with the Pacific Daily News in Guam. In 1979 she was appointed Special Assistant to the Lieutenant Governor of Guam. She was based in San Francisco until 1984 when she returned to Guam to work for the Office of the Governor of Guam, holding the position of Chief of Staff from 1987–1994. She then worked as Director of Communications for the Superior Court of Guam, in Hagåtña, until 1996. On 6 January 2000, Pangelinan became the first female Director-General of the

. She was reappointed twice and led the organisation until 5 January 2006, having held three two year terms. Previously had been Deputy Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community since 1996. Pangelinan continues to work in the Pacific region and was appointed manager for development of the Regional Institutional Framework in 2007 by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pangelinan, Lourdes Living people 1954 births University of California, Davis alumni People from Asan, Guam