Prof Dr Ricardo P Pama

Secretary General AUAP

Dr. Ricardo P. Pama is an engineer by training and profession. He holds a BS degree in Civil Engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology, a Master’s degree in Structural Engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and a PhD in Structural Engineering from St. Andrews University, Scotland's oldest university.

His academic career started in 1965 when he accepted the position of Assistant Lecturer at the University of St Andrews while pursuing his doctoral studies which he completed in 1968. Little did he realize that he was the first Asian ever to teach at St Andrews since it was founded in 1411, over a century before the discovery of the Philippines.

In 1970, he moved to the Asian Institute of Technology, the first Post Graduate School of Engineering in Asia. For 26 years he went through various positions as Professor, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Vice President for Development, raising US $250M in grants for scholarships, faculty secondments and infrastructure development.

After 34 years abroad, he decided to return home. In 1999, he became President of the Baguio Colleges Foundation and took upon himself the challenge of turning it into a university, which is now called the University of the Cordilleras. In 2004, he transferred to Angeles University Foundation as President. In 2009, the University of the Cordilleras invited him back to lead the university for the second time. To his credit, he turned these two institutions to be among the top 12 universities in the country. He retired from academic life in 2014.

Dr. Pama published three textbooks in Engineering and over 100 technical papers in refereed International Journals. He served TPET as member and was Chairman from 2015 until his retirement in 2019. He also served as Trustee of the AIT for two terms until 2019. At present he is a Trustee of Angeles University Foundation, and Notre Dame College of Jolo. Currently, he is the Secretary General of the Association of Universities of Asia and the Pacific (AUAP), comprising of about 200 colleges and universities all over Asia and the Pacific Region with headquarters in Thailand.