She is known as just plain Cion to all Varrons and friends.  To her professional colleagues in the university, she is simply known as AKR, not out of disrespect but because her initials carry a lot of credibility, respect, recognition, and professional authority.

If we have to describe Cion or AKR (whichever you prefer is fine with her) in one word, “Academician” will sum it all.  She fits the description to the T and her credentials say it all.  Consider these facts: she is an elected member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences in the Philippines, she is an internationally recognized in the fields of Microbial Genetics, Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, and she is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), UP Los Baños.  This is a great feat for one of the Original Varronettes’62, the women’s group who shared the same academic visions as their male counterparts when the UP Varrons was founded.

When the UP Varrons awarded her the “Outstanding Alumni Award in Academics” in 1972 (just ten years from the founding of the organization), it was a foreboding recognition by the members at that time because numerous awards were given to her since then (see inset box).  And this year, as the UP Varrons approaches its 45th anniversary, she is being recognized university wide, by the UP Alumni Association no less, as one of its recipients of Outstanding Professional Award in the area of microbiology.

In nominating Cion for the UPAA Alumni Award for Professionals, Dr. Cleofas Cervacia, Director of the Institute of Biological Sciences, said of her, in what could be called a “Portrait of a Scientist as Filipino”:

“Dean Raymundo’s championing the cause of microbiology education, especially of microbial genetics, in Philippine schools, is just as significant in impact.  It resonates with the emergence of biotechnology as a leading form of high technology in the world of the 21st century, an event which will require extensive familiarity with and numerous specialists in the discipline if the country is to become competitive with the rest of the world.

“At a time when specialists in her sophisticated, highly technical field are deserting the country in droves, blaming, among other things the lack of facilities, Dean Raymundo, who has steadfastly refused tempting offers to move abroad, has instead chosen to build the foundation of microbial genetics and molecular biology in the Philippines and contribute to the advancement of the discipline and help the country through her work, the impact of which is both far-reaching and will reach long into the future.”

As one of the foremost scientists in the Philippines today, years of routine work along the far reaches of specialized human knowledge would probably have confined lesser individuals within the comfort zones of their basic science work and would probably be confounded as to how they connect with practical concerns.  Cion is definitely not an ivory-tower scientist.  She maintains multi-faceted activities in research, extension work, teaching, and linkage with the private sector to know the problems on the ground.  As a matter of fact, her pioneering work in microbial genetics finds its applications in agriculture.  Her study on the molecular analysis of a hypervirulent strain of Ralstonia solanacearum has a direct connection in the farmers’ fields.  Her research team proved that the causative organism of banana diseases bugtok and moko is the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum, thus, solving a problem which has confounded industry specialists for decades and caused tremendous losses to banana farmers big and small.  Her work eventually resulted in the development of a technique to detect contamination in banana fruits and plant parts.

Likewise, her current research work in the construction of a metagenomic DNA library from Mudspring (referring to a volcanic hot mud area located within the dormant Mt. Makiling near UP Los Baños) may be too basic for some.  But an investigation of extremophiles (i.e., microorganisms that thrive on extreme environment like high temperature) is considered practically significant because these organisms can be a great source of economically important metabolites.

Her enjoyment in microbial research can only be matched with her enthusiasm for teaching.  Aside from offering courses on recombinant DNA techniques, she has taught 15 courses and instituted three courses in microbiology/plant pathology, wrote six laboratory and seven training manuals for various courses in microbiology, and has supervised and served as major adviser to 81 undergraduate thesis students, 15 Master’s students, and 6 Ph.D. students.

She served two consecutive terms as Director of the Institute of Biological Sciences, UP Los Baños from 1999 to 2006.  She was selected as CAS Dean immediately afterwards.

Through the years she has built an impressive body of work that included the implementation of 33 research projects, including studies in bacterial taxonomy, antibiotic production, and genetic diversity and detection of bacterial plant pathogens using recombinant DNA technology, some funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, UNIDO, and Australian Center for International Agriculture.  A prolific writer of scientific articles, Cion has published 82 of these in refereed local and international journals (please see Varrons-related bibliography) and together with collaborators, has presented 108 papers at local and international conferences, annual meetings, workshops and symposia.

Cion has been elected to several honor societies including the Gamma Sigma Delta (Honor Society of Agriculture), the Phi Kappa Phi, and the Phi Sigma.  She is also actively involved in several professional societies.  She was the president of the Philippine Society for Microbiology in 1992-93 and the chairman of the Council of Regents of the Philippine Academy of Microbiology in 1998 to 2001.

Her expertise allows her to be involved in carrying other academic-related activities in international and private institutions including the Euro-Med Laboratories, Annamalai University in India, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and the United Nations Development Program External Advisory Committee.

Cion obtained her Bachelor’s degree from UP Los Baños in 1966.  Three years later, she earned her Master’s from University of Hawaii in Honolulu.  She finished her PhD in Plant Pathology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1980.  She constantly refreshes and advances her knowledge by doing a number of postdoctoral research studies in prestigious institutions including IRRI, Monash University in Australia, Osaka University, and Kansas State University.

During her undergrad Varrons days, she held the position of Secretary (among other subsequent positions).  Currently she is Vice President of the UP Varrons Foundation, Inc.  She credits her Varrons membership with having provided her “with contacts in various places.”  Asked what were some of the memorable events that she remembers as a member of the UPVL, she reminisces about the time “when the Varonnettes first met to form the forerunner of the sister organization of Varrons; the first time we initiated the first batch of members.”

The recent award from the UP Alumni Association, she says, is “for all of us Varrons.”

To Cion, an Academician with a “K,” we can simply add another K: Kudos!
(rajr84)