Onofre Dizon Corpuz ONS (December 1, 1926 – March 23, 2013) was a Filipino academic, economist, and historian. He served as the Secretary of Education of the Philippines from 1968 to 1971 and was the 13th president of the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

System from 1975 to 1979. Dr. Corpuz was later named Minister of Education under the parliamentary system wherein he was also member of the now defunct

Batasang Pambansa The Batasang Pambansa Complex, or simply the Batasan (), is the seat of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It is located along the Batasan Road in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. The complex was initially the home of the Batasang Pa ...

(National Assembly) from 1979 to 1983. Being the first one to come up with the idea of establishing the Career Executive Service (CES) in the Philippines based on existent bureaucratic structures in other countries, Corpuz served as the first chairman of the Career Executive Service Board (CESB) from 1973 to 1978. In 2004, he was named

National Scientist of the Philippines The Order of National Scientists of the Philippines, abbreviated as ONS, is the highest award accorded to Filipino scientists by the Philippine government. Members of the order are known as National Scientists ( Filipino: ''Pambansang Alagad ng Ag ...

for his contributions to Filipino scholarship particularly in areas of economics, history, political science, and public administration. At the time of his death, he was a Professor Emeritus at the

School of Economics In the history of economic thought, a school of economic thought is a group of economic thinkers who share or shared a common perspective on the way economies work. While economists do not always fit into particular schools, particularly in modern ...

of the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

Early life

Dr. Onofre Dizon Corpuz was born on December 1, 1926 at Taft Street, Poblacion,

Camiling, Tarlac Camiling, officially the Municipality of Camiling, ( pag, Baley na Camiling; ilo, Ili ti Camiling; tl, Bayan ng Camiling) is a 1st class municipality in the province of Tarlac in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populati ...

to Remigio Corpuz, a school teacher and Isabel Dizon. He finished his primary and secondary education in his hometown province of

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac ( pam, Lalawigan ning Tarlac; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Tarlac; ilo, Probinsia ti Tarlac; tgl, Lalawigan ng Tarlac; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. It ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He was salutatorian of Camiling Elementary School in 1938 and of Tarlac High School in 1944 before he took up his B.A. degree at the University of the Philippines at Diliman from 1946 to 1950 wherein he graduated magna cum laude. He joined the

Upsilon Sigma Phi The Upsilon Sigma Phi () is the oldest Greek-letter organization and fraternity in Asia. Founded in 1918, it is also the oldest student organization in continuous existence in the University of the Philippines. It has two chapters — a single ch ...

fraternity in 1947. It was also here that he joined and later served as the resident Governor of the Pan Xenia Fraternity. Corpuz obtained his master's degree at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1953. He later finished a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

(MPA) degree in 1955 and a Ph.D. in Political Economy & Government in 1956 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. In 1976, the Royal Chulalongkorn University in Thailand awarded him a Ph.D., ''honoris causa'' in 1976.

Career

Dr. Corpuz was appointed Undersecretary of the Department of Education by former President then dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1966 and was promoted to Secretary in 1968. As head of the country's education department, he joined the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Council. He was also concurrently chairperson of the Population Commission. In 1972, he became the Founding President of the government-owned Development Academy of the Philippines. Corpuz later ran for a position and won in the

, the legislative body of the parliamentary Philippines during the Marcos Sr. dictatorship. As a member of the legislature, he served as Minister of Education. He took a break from government service in 1983. The economist reentered government as member of the board of the National Historical Institute in 1987 during the time of former President

Corazon C. Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

. Professor Corpuz served as president of the now defunct ''The Manila Chronicle'' from 1994 to 1996. Earlier, he was part of the Board of Governors of the

East-West Center East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

from 1974 to 1976. East-West Center is closely linked to several academic institutions in Hawaii, particularly the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Research

Dr. Corpuz conducted research at the United States

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, the Widener & Houghton Libraries at

, the New York Public Library, the British Museum Library, and the Archivo General delas Indias in Sevilla, Spain. He was also a visiting research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. His specializations included economic history, public administration and policy. His previous research formed the basis for his best-known published works, which include: ''The'' ''Philippines'' (1965; Prentice-Hall); ''Roots of the Filipino Nation ''2 vols. (1989; Aklahi Foundation); ''An economic history of the Philippines'' (1997; University of the Philippines Press); and ''Saga and triumph: the Philippine revolution against Spain ''(2002; University of the Philippines Press).

Personal life

Professor Corpuz was married to retired professor and former dean of the College of Home Economics (CHE) of University of the Philippines Dr. Aurora G. Corpuz.

References

External links

UP to pay tribute to National Scientist O.D. Corpuz

A tribute to O.D. Corpuz

A tribute to O.D. Corpuz: Unconventional Thinker

O.D. at the School of Economics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corpuz, Onofre 1926 births 2013 deaths People from Tarlac Filipino educators Secretaries of Education of the Philippines University of the Philippines faculty National Scientists of the Philippines Harvard Kennedy School alumni Ferdinand Marcos administration cabinet members Corazon Aquino administration personnel Presidents of universities and colleges in the Philippines Members of the Batasang Pambansa University of the Philippines alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni