The Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies (PFCS), the umbrella organization for the different chemistry societies in the country, is pleased to announce the election of Dr Glenn Alea as its President, assuming the post on 19 July 2017, and succeeding Dr Armando Guidote. Dr Alea is a graduate of De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila, where he obtained his BS (1987), MS (1993), and PhD (1998) degrees in chemistry. His MS thesis is on natural products involving the isolation, characterization, and structural elucidation of terpenes from the soft coral Clavularia inflata. He did his research at the James Cook University in North Queensland, Australia. From 1994 to 1998, he was a PhD fellow of the Department of Science and Technology – Engineering and Science Education Program (DOST-ESEP). He was a research fellow from 1997 to 1998 at the Southampton University in the United Kingdom doing organic synthesis. His dissertation involved the synthesis and characterization of tetrathiafulvalene derivatives and macrocycles containing sugar units.
Dr Alea’s research interests include the syntheses of tetrathiafulvalene macrocycles, cobaltadithiolene complexes, pyrazinamide and isoniazid derivatives, phthalimide derivatives, and thiazolidinedione derivatives. His papers have been published in various journals and presented in local and international conferences.
Dr Alea has been with the Chemistry Department of DLSU since 1987 and has more than twenty years of teaching experience to his name, rising from assistant lecturer to associate professor. Among his iconic projects is the DLSU Chemistry Challenge, a chemistry quiz-bee type contest for high school students, which he initiated in the year 2000. He has been the Department Chair since 2015, and is in charge of the strategic direction, management, and coordination of the academic programs in line with the Department’s mission-vision. Come September 2017, Dr Alea shall become Dean of DLSU’s College of Science.
In addition to his role in the PFCS, Dr Alea is also the Vice President for Internal Affairs of the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP), the accredited professional organization (APO) of registered chemists and registered chemical technicians recognized by the Professional Regulation Commission, since being first elected in 2011. He also became a member of the three-person CPD Council for Chemistry in 2017.
He is married to the former Cristina Hinagpis and they have two children, Alzea and Yana. In his free time, Dr Alea plays badminton with members of DLSU’s chemistry community.