Raphael A. Pangalangan and Maria Pilar M. Lorenzo, both graduates of the University of the Philippines, are two of the seven winners of the first annual A. Noam Chomsky Global Connections Awards. Raphael Pangalangan is the recipient of the Rising Star Emerging Scholar (post-terminal degree completion category) and Maria Pilar Lorenzo is the recipient of the Rising Star Emerging Scholar (graduate student category). The awards were presented on Tuesday, December 8, at the 2020 STAR Conference Closing and Award Ceremony, which can be viewed globally via YouTube.
The Society of Transnational Academic Researchers (STAR) Scholars Network through the Global Connections Awards recognizes the commitment of concerned people who are able and willing to make a difference in the lives of others. Several individuals with a deep impact on advancing global, social mobility are recognized every year. For the year 2020, seven STAR Scholars were awarded for their achievements and distinctive contributions to transnational research that demonstrates the very best of scholarly collaboration among scholars around the world.
Each year, the Star Scholars Network recognizes up to two (2) emerging scholars who have shown significant promise and commitment to transnational research. One award recognizes an emerging scholar (post-terminal degree completion) in any field that has distinguished him/herself as a rising leader in advancing transnational research. The other award recognizes a current graduate student who has demonstrated significant promise to advancing transnational research through publications, leadership, or other relevant contributions.
Raphael A. Pangalangan
Atty. Pangalangan is recognized for his outstanding scholarly work and legal practice. He practiced Criminal Law in the Office of the Ombudsman of the Philippines and was a Lecturer in Philosophy in the University of the Philippines under the mentorship of Professor Renato Manaloto. He thereafter completed a clerkship with the Office of the President of the UNIRMCT under Judge Carmel Agius, while simultaneously finishing his M.St. in Human Rights at the University of Oxford.
While earning his LL.M. in the University of Cambridge, Atty. Pangalangan served as a Project Researcher for the Cambridge Pro Bono Project where he assisted on a Consultative Opinion filed before the IACtHR. He has written extensively on Transnational and International Law for the Brill | Nijhoff, the Oxford University Press, and the Cambridge University Press. His article, Dominic Ongwen and the Rotten Social Background Defense, was cited by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights and was awarded the Human Rights Essay Award by the American University Washington College of Law. He is also the recipient of the Oxford-Morris Prize in Human Rights, the Hague Academy of International Law Scholarship, and the Korean International Association Grant for Comparative Law.
Atty. Pangalangan has continued his legal advocacy as a Junior Fellow with Reprieve, the Chief Academic Adviser of the Aristotle & Alexander Institute, and as a Consultant with Ocampo & Suralvo Law Offices. He sits as the Associate Dean and Assistant Professor in Human Rights of Jindal Global Law School—India’s premier school of law.
Maria Pilar M. Lorenzo
Maria Pilar Lorenzo joined Ghent University’s Centre for Higher Education Governance Ghent as a PhD candidate in November 2020. She recently obtained an MSc degree in International Politics, magna cum laude (Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, Belgium, 2020), an Advanced MSc degree in Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies, cum laude (KU Leuven, 2019, ), and a Master’s degree in Public Administration, summa cum laude ranking, top of the cohort (University of the Philippines, 2018). She is currently a Fellow of the Regional Academy on the United Nations, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Research Associate of the Philippine Society for Public Administration, an Associate Member of the National Research Council of the Philippines, a Member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and a Member of the ASEAN Think Tanks Network (by invitation only). She is a recipient of cumulatively 70 grants, scholarships, honors, and awards, including the recognition by YSEALI Women’s Leadership Academy Alumni Network as one of the 2020 cohort of women leaders in Southeast Asia.
As a researcher, she is fascinated with examining issues relating to higher education regionalization processes and policies, governance, and social (in)equities. Her most recent study investigates the cross-border research of a Philippine higher education institution within the ambit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Her publications include, among others: “The imperatives of peace for development in the Philippines” (Center for Local and Regional Governance); “Social equity in the Philippines” (Palgrave Macmillan); “Jewish migration in the Philippines” (Graz University Press). She also has three forthcoming co-authored chapters in edited volumes to be published by Palgrave Macmillan, Springer, and World Scientific. In addition, her think pieces have appeared in Channel NewsAsia, East Asia Forum, Modern Diplomacy, etc.
Source: Retired Commission on Audit Director Marietta M. Lorenzo
