Page 17 - UPAAA '21 GRC Binder2 Souvenir Journal

SESSION #2 - INSPIRATION: Heroes/Heroines

PANELISTS
D B M , . . graduated from UP in 1986
with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She was in the top 20 of
the Philippine Board Exam in Nursing which was released in the same
year she graduated. A er gradua on, Daisy worked as a staff nurse at
the Philippine General Hospital Medical Ward and Intensive Care
Unit. She migrated to the US in 1989 and started working at Englewood
Hospital and Medical Center where she s ll works to this day. She is
curren ng in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, specializing in open
heart surgeries. Daisy is a mother of three young men, two of whom
graduated from college and the youngest is a college freshman at the
Steven Ins tute of Technology in New Jersey.
Currently, Daisy is UPAAA’s Regional Vice President for the East and
secretary of UPAA‐NJ Chapter. She is also a board member of the Han‐
dang Tumulong Founda on Inc. Her advocacy in life is to help others, especially underprivileged children
and students.
J “J ” R. W is a Speech‐Language
Pathologist with 33 years of clinical and teaching experience, specializing
in pediatric speech‐language pathology, and has been working in Fairfax
County Public Schools (FCPS) for 16 years. She has assumed several leader‐
ship roles within the Communica on Disorders Department at FCPS since
she started working there. Jessie’s clinical interest and exper se include
developmental delays, au sm, intellectual disability, specific learning disa‐
bility, speech sound produc on, stu ering, language and literacy, and Aug‐
menta ve and Alterna ve Communica on. Jessie founded the Com‐
municare Therapy Center for Children in Paranaque in 1994 a er working
for two private schools. She enjoyed teaching undergraduate and graduate
students, as well as supervising interns at the UP Manila College of Allied
Medical Professions. Jessie completed her Master in Health Professions
Educa on in UP Manila, and her Master of Science in Speech‐Language Pathology at the California State
East Bay. A founding member of the Philippine Ass’n. of Speech Pathologists, she was its third president.

Con nua on on A J , P D. Beyond his work at Notre Dame, Juan is also the founding Ar s c
Director of the Step of Angels Theatre in Athens, Greece, and was the Director‐General of Dulaang UP, University of
the Philippines where he finished his BA in Compara ve Literature has taught for thirty‐three years. Earlier known
as the enfant‐terrible of Philippine Theatre, Juan is now the mentor of many emergent directors, actors, and play‐
wrights. His visually poe c and expressive physical style of theatre has certainly created an impact on his audiences
and recent genera ons of ar sts of the Philippines as well as on ar sts and students in other countries he has
taught. His students have won awards for Playwri ng, Ac ng, and Direc ng both na onally and interna onally. An‐
ton Juan was selected as one of the 100 Philippine Ar sts awarded the Philippine Centennial Honors for the Arts,
who have contributed significantly to and made an impact on the evolu on of Philippine culture. He has also re‐
ceived the Balagtas Award from the Na onal Writers’ Union of the Philippines and has won several Playwri ng
awards from the Carlos Palanca Literary Awards. Anton Juan has received Fellowships and Awards from pres gious
ins tu ons, among them the Rockefeller‐Bellagio Founda on Fellowship for senior ar sts, the Fulbright Founda‐
on, Hitachi Founda on of Japan, Jack Lang Scholarship in France, Asian Cultural Council in New York, the Associa‐
on of French Ar sts and the Ministry of Culture of France, the Ministry of Educa on of Greece, and the Italian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Bri sh Council. Recently Juan received the Center for Social Concerns Award for
social engagement with his Theatre and Social Concerns project with Juvenile Prison Residents.