Vidal Tan

He was part of the 1913 batch of pensionados, being sent to Cornell University where he would complete his studies in civil engineering. He would also earn his master's degree from the same university.

He was appointed in 1939 as the first Filipino dean of the UP's College of Engineering. He left the UP in 1949 and would serve as president of the Far Eastern University until 1952. He became the 8th president of the UP when President Elpidio Quirino appointed him to the position in 1952; he would serve as UP president until 1956. Under him, two churches were established inside the UP Quezon City campus: the Church of the Risen Lord and the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice. In 1958, President Carlos Garcia awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Merit for Humanities.

Currently (as of 2020) the UP NISMED (National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development) building in the main campus is named after him (Vidal A. Tan Hall).

He was the son of Gonzalo Arceo Tan (who helped finance the Philippine Revolution), and uncle of Bienvenido L. Tan (who headed the Bureau of Internal Revenue under Philippine President Corazon Aquino) and of Sr. Mary Christine Tan (Filipino missionary and activist).

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Photo courtesy of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi UP; Facebook; 28 Nov 2017