Maria Luz C. Vilches

Maria Luz C. Vilches, Ph.D. Vice President for Higher Education, Ateneo de Manila University

Personal Background

Maria Luz C. Vilches, Ph.D. joins the USC Board of Trustees on December 1, 2023. She is an Associate Professor of English and is currently the Vice President for Higher Education of the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU).

Dr. Vilches earned her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Lancaster after completing three master’s degrees in literature (AdMU), Folklife Studies (University of Leeds), and English Language in Literary Studies (University of Nottingham); the latter two were supported by British Council fellowships. She obtained her A.B. degree in English and Philosophy from the Divine Word University in Tacloban.

Her research interests cover the interface of language and literature and English language teaching in multilingual and multicultural settings, which are reflected in her numerous publications. Her latest publication is a chapter on English teacher education in postcolonial Philippines in a book published by Cambridge University Press. She has held numerous endowed professorial chairs since 2001 and is currently the Enrique T. Yuchengco Chair in the Humanities at AdMU.

Prior to her current post, she was the Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Vice President for the Ateneo Professional Schools (2022–2023), Vice President for the Loyola Schools (2016–2023), Dean of the School of Humanities (2008–2016), Chair of the English Department (2004–2007), and Executive Director of the Ateneo Center for English Language Teaching (1995–2004). She was also seconded to Ateneo’s project with WHO (Western Pacific Region)—the WHO Learning Center—from 1990 to 1994 where she was an EFL teacher and became the Center’s Director of Studies.

Outside of AdMU, she has been Chair of the Commission on Higher Education Technical Panel for Humanities Education since 2010 and is an accreditor and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities. As an English teacher trainer, she has been involved in regional and national workshops under the auspices of the Department of Education and the British Council. The biggest engagement she had was the four-year British Government-funded Philippines English Language Teaching Project (1995–1999). She remains active in the British Council and alumni organizations.