UST RECTOR Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. has been elected as the new president of a group of Catholic higher education institutions in the country.
Ang will serve as president of the Association of Catholic Universities of the Philippines (ACUP) until 2027, the group announced on Friday, June 10.
He succeeded Fr. Gilbert Sales, C.I.C.M., the president of Saint Louis University
“We are pleased to announce the new Board of Directors taking the helm of ACUP from 2025 to 2027! The 37 ACUP member institutions congratulate the new set of officers, led by the ACUP President Rev. Fr. Richard G. Ang, O.P., Ph.D., Rector of the University of Santo Tomas,” the organization said in a Facebook post.
Ang previously served as ACUP’s vice president from 2023 to 2025. As president, he is now responsible for leading the organization in developing synodal efforts and dialogues, as well as fostering its member institutions’ roles as leading centers of teaching, research and service.
During his term as vice president, UST participated in ACUP’s first youth gathering in 2024. The event convened more than a hundred student leaders, student affairs officers and organization advisers from across the country to discuss the youth’s role in synodality and social transformation.
Ang earned his Bachelor of Arts major in Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts and Letters in 1990 before finishing his degree in Sacred Theology at the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties. He earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology and Masters of Arts in Higher Religious Studies in 1999 and finished his doctorate in Philosophy in 2010.
He entered the University as a faculty member in 2001 and performed various key roles from 2012 to 2020, including vice rector and presider for the economic council, the council of regents and the academic senate.
He succeeded former rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. in 2020 and is currently serving his second term as the University’s 97th rector after being reappointed in 2024.
In May, Ang was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Notre Dame Australia for his academic leadership and ecclesiastical contributions in philosophical research across the Asia-Pacific region.
READ: UST rector receives honorary doctorate from Australian university
Ang was succeeded by San Beda University rector-president Fr. Aloysius Maranan, O.S.B as ACUP vice president.
University of the Immaculate Conception president Sister Ma. Marissa Viri, R.V.M will serve as corporate secretary, while De La Salle University president Bernard Oca FSC will assume the post of treasurer.
The organization’s secretariat remains under the UST Office of Public Affairs, led by its director Michaella Lagniton. F
