A Filipino-American organization of educators in the U.S. has picked a multi-awarded Dubai-based professor and civic leader for its very first International Educator Award.
Dr. Rommel Pilapil Sergio, a human resource management program chair and associate professor at the Canadian University in Dubai and The Filipino
Times’ 2016 Educator of the Year awardee, will receive the recognition in May in Maryland, U.S.A. from the United Federation of Fil-Am Educators (UNIFFIED). He is among 10 recipients of the said award and the only one from the Middle East.
Aside from teaching, Dr. Sergio provides free counseling for distressed overseas Filipino workers at the Dubai Philippine Consulate. He has established a foundation, the Dr. Rommel Sergio Scholarship Program, which provides full tuition fee to college scholars. He also conducts behavioral classroom management series for teachers, career mapping, and anti-bullying seminar-workshops.
In 2016, Dr. Sergio bagged the Presidential Award by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for Outstanding OFW-Individual Category. He was also the recipient of the Top 50 Global Educators Award by The Oxford Journal, Outstanding Global Research Leader by International Association of Scholarly Publishers, Editors and Reviewers, and Huwarang OFW-People’s Choice Award by the CBN Asia.
Dr. Sergio has co-authored several published academic research papers, one of which won the best research paper award at Harvard University. He was the only Filipino to have been a finalist in the United Kingdom’s GESS Education and Leadership Award’s 2018 Outstanding Contribution in Education. He also bagged this year’s 2018 Best Professor in HRM by HRD World Congress.
“An international recognition like this affirms the quality of work we do. I feel there is a great need to promote the image of Filipinos here and from around the world – that we can excel in any industry, field of profession, and line of work,” Dr. Sergio said.
He said what sets Filipino educators apart is their ability to “see through the learners beyond what they need inside the classroom.”
The UNIFFIED International Educator Award recognizes Filipino educators worldwide. The winners are selected based on their contributions to the academe and the community. The awarding ceremonies will be held at the Best Western Hotel in Lanham, Maryland during the UNIFFIED’s 5th international summit.
