Enrique T. Virata

Enrique T. Virata was a distinguished Filipino educator, mathematician, and statistician born in Imus, Cavite on 14 July 1899. He graduated as valedictorian of Manila High School in 1918, earned an A.B. degree from the University of the Philippines in 1919 and, graduated magna cum laude as he earned the degree of B.S. in Mathematics. He then pursued advanced studies abroad, obtaining an M.A. from Harvard University in 1925 and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1926, later receiving an LL.D. honoris causa from UP in 1969. Virata served the University of the Philippines in numerous capacities—as a professor, head of the Department of Mathematics, dean of several academic units, and as the Acting President of the University from 1956 -1958. 

He also contributed to national and regional academic initiatives, chairing the Commission on Equivalence of Degrees among Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines, while serving as president of the Southeast Asian Institutions for Higher Learning. As a representative of the Philippines, he led delegations to the UN Regional Seminar on Population Problems in Bandung and to the Conference of Asian Statisticians in Bangkok. He was a founding member of both the Family Planning Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Statistical Society. Among his notable publications are Population of the Philippines, Rice Problem, and College Algebra.