Pinoy dean of New York University to be honored in PHL Feb. 2

The world-renowned New York University (NYU) will honor Dr. Michael Purugganan, NYU's Filipino Dean for Science  with a special reception in Manila on February 2. A genetics professor, Purugganan helped discover that all of the world's domesticated rice varieties may have come from a single place in China thousands of years ago. The reception honoring Purugganan will coincide with the NYU Alumni and Parent reception on Februrary 2 at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel. The event will be graced by Sarah Waterbury, NYU Vice President for Development and Campaigns and Emily Lew, Director for Global Development. In a news release, NYU said " we can think of no better way to introduce ourselves to the NYU community than to honor Dean Purugganan's achievement with a special reception." "This will be an excellent opportunity to meet fellow NYU alumni, parents, and friends, and hear about some exciting new global initiatives," it added. Born in Manila, Philippines in 1963, Purugganan a Dorothy Schiff Professor of Genomics and Professor of Biology, aside from being an NYU dean. He is also on the affiliated faculty and the co-director of the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology at NYU Abu Dhabi. Purugganan graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1985. He later earned his Master's degree at Columbia University in the US in 1986 and received his Ph.D from the University of Georgia, also in the US, in 1993. NYU said Purugganan has lectured at more than 75 universities around the world, including Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge and Zurich. Leader in "ecological genomics" Purugganan is considered a leader in the field of ecological genomics. His work focuses on identifying the molecular basis for evolutionary adaptations that occur in nature. In 2011, Purugganan's team traced back "thousands of years of evolutionary history through large-scale gene re-sequencing." The team concluded that rice originated in China. "Their findings, which appear in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), indicate that domesticated rice may have first appeared as far back as approximately 9,000 years ago in the Yangtze Valley of China," the NYU said in a statement. New York University Founded in 1831, NYU is one of the largest private universities in the US with an enrollment of more than 40,000. NYU students come from every state in the US and from 133 other countries. The faculty now totals over 3,100 full-time members whose research and teaching encompasses the sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences, and includes winners of the Nobel Prize, Abel Prize, National Medal of Science, Guggenheim Fellowships, MacArthur Fellowships, Pulitzer Prize, and Oscar, Grammy and Tony Awards. The notable NYU grads include former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, Nobel Prize winners Eric Kandel, Arthur Kornberg, Frederick Reines and Clifford Shull, former NY Mayor Rudy Guliani, designers Salvatore Ferragamo and Tom Ford (design director for Gucci), actors Alec Baldwin, Anne Hathaway and Angelina Jolie, directors Spike Lee, Ang Lee, Oliver Stone and Martin Scorsese, and the authors Candace Bushnell (Sex and the City), Joseph Heller (Catch-22) and Neil Simon. Meanwhile, well-known Philippine alumni of NYU include Rep. Cynthia Villar, Robinson's CEO Robina Gokongwei-Pe, MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino, CCP Director and concert pianist Raul Sunico, renowned constitutionalist and former Ateneo Law dean Fr. Joaquin Bernas, CCP artistic director Chris Millado, and actor Richard Gomez. - VVP, GMA News