On the contribution of the Christian Church to the growth of science Fr Joseph Eatol Part forty-second of a series of prepared articles.
ShaWhile it is natural for us to immediately turn our attention to Europe and America when we think of energy, it is an indisputable fact that there are excellent scientists in Asian countries as well. A characteristic of Eastern countries is the integration of different schools of thought.
There is no other region where religion, culture, literature, art and sports are intertwined like this. Eastern thinkers have an incomparable ability to bring science and faith together so that they cannot be separated. Benvenido Nebrez is one such.
Benvenido Nebrez was born on March 15, 1940 in the Philippines. He had a unique knowledge and erudition in mathematics and worked hard to connect mathematics with faith. After his primary education and seminary training, he joined the Jesuit order.
It was the example and encouragement of a nun who had taught him at school that led Benvenido to enter the seminary. He completed his graduation in philosophy in 1962. He completed his Masters in Philosophy the very next year. These studies were done by the Philippines itself.
Later he went to America for further studies. There he completed his master’s degree in science and doctoral studies in mathematics at Stanford University in California. He then served for many years as president of the Mathematical Society of the Philippines.
During this time he took steps to make the study and teaching of mathematics efficient and enjoyable throughout the country. Benvenido Nebrez is one of the greatest mathematicians alive today. He has published more than 15 scientific documents in mathematics and its teaching area.
By spearheading the Engineering and Science Education Project of the Philippines, Benvenido took steps to further strengthen the country’s primary and secondary education sectors. He paid particular attention to the education of the backward classes and underdeveloped villages.
Strengthened and modernized the Philippine higher education sector as a member of the Science and Mathematics of the Commission on Higher Education. He was the president of the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society and a long-time member of that committee representing the Philippines. He played a very important role in forming this committee.
He brought together the most important universities in Manila to study the subjects of mathematics, physics and chemistry together. This has helped to produce scientists who have shown talent in these three disciplines in East Asian countries.
Today it is a large network of 110 schools and 30 colleges and universities. Eminent scientists from different countries are collaborating on this project. He has served since 1993 as Chancellor of the University of Manila. Benvenido Nebrez is the longest serving president in the university’s history.
He was awarded the Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French government in 1981, membership in the Alumni Hall of Fame of the Asian Activities Center of Stanford University in 1999, and the Officier de L’Ordre National du Mérite by the French government in 2001. In 2012, he became a member of the American Mathematical Society. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by many universities.
Having completed more than fifty years in the Jesuit Church, he has held ecclesiastical duties in between these jobs. He was devoted to developing mathematics as well as revealing the interplay between mathematics and faith.
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