NMEAD chief is among 7 notable recipients of honorary distinctions from UPR
By The Star Staff
As part of a tradition that exalts people whose professional careers have been exemplary and of immeasurable value to society, the Río Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) held the Academic Distinctions Ceremony on Friday to honor seven figures in the fields of science, public service and planning, including the commissioner of the Bureau of Emergency Management and Disaster Administration (NMEAD by its Spanish acronym), Nino Correa Filomeno, who received a degree from the School of Social Sciences.
The event — framed in the celebration of the 120th anniversary of UPR’s founding — was held in two sessions in the Río Piedras Campus Theater. During the morning ceremony, the distinction of professor emeritus was awarded to Drs. Rafael Arce Quintero, Nicholas Van Liew Brokaw and John P. Richard Thomas -- the first, from the Department of Chemistry; the second, from the Department of Environmental Sciences; and the third from the Department of Biology, all of which are in the School of Natural Sciences.
In addition, Dr. John A. Soderquist, who also was a member of that school’s faculty, was recognized as professor emeritus post mortem as part of the Department of Chemistry.
In the afternoon ceremony, the degree of doctor honoris causa -- the highest honor conferred by UPR -- was awarded to Correa Filomeno on behalf of the School of Social Sciences, as well as the distinctions of professor emeritus to Dr. Carmen M. Concepción Rodríguez and that of distinguished professor to Dr. Maritza Barreto Orta, both from the Graduate School of Planning.
“Each of the honorees, from their respective fields of academia and public service, have lived their vocations with excellence, always at the service of our students and the island, with exemplary careers that today our alma mater recognizes with a deep sense of duty, pride and satisfaction,” UPR Río Piedras Campus Chancellor Dr. Angélica Varela Llavona said. “Duty, because the enormous magnitude of their professional careers demand it; pride, because we have had the privilege of considering them as our own; and satisfaction, for the immense joy we feel when we recognize their achievements and give them -- through these distinctions -- the enhancement and dimension they really possess.”