Fidel Nemenzo


Fidel R. Nemenzo is a Filipino mathematician, professor, and academic administrator whose areas of expertise include number theory, elliptic curves, and coding theory.
On March 2, 2020, he succeeded Michael Tan and became the eleventh Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Diliman.
He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from UP Diliman, as well as master's and Doctor of Science degrees from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.

Current positions

Nemenzo is the incumbent Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Immediately prior to his appointment, he was vice chancellor for Research and Development of UP Diliman and is the convenor of the Center for Integrative Development Studies’ Data Science for Public Policy Program. He chairs the Mathematics Division of the National Research Council of the Philippines, having been elected to the NRCP Governing Board in 2019. He was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the UP Diliman College of Science and headed its Science and Society Program. Nemenzo also served as President of both the Southeast Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Society of the Philippines.

Awards

Nemenzo's awards include OneUP Professorial Chair awards and International Publication Awards which he received from the University of the Philippines System; the Achievement Award in Mathematics from the National Research Council of the Philippines in 2013; and the Gawad Chancellor Para sa Pinakamahusay na Guro, which he received from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 2005.

Political activism

The son of Martial Law era activist and later University of the Philippines President Francisco Nemenzo Jr, he has himself had a long history of political activism.
A UP student leader during the time of martial law under Ferdinand Marcos, he was shot in the back during the infamous Welcome Rotonda rally shootings of September 27, 1984 and almost died from the single M-16 bullet the pierced through his body. Fellow activists attribute his survival from his wounds to the fact that he was a runner. He was known for his athleticism and healthy lifestyle in the campus.
He was also a founding member of the activist musical group "Patatag".
In recent years, he has strongly denounced the red tagging of UP students who have taken a stand against authoritarianism in the Philippines.