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In 1969, he graduated from the Ilocos Sur Agricultural College as Valedictorian. That means he can excel in his
studies when he wants to. High school can either be the best or the worst years of your life as a student.
In 1973, he finished his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education at the Mountain State Agricultural
College (MSAC, now Benguet State University or BSU). That means he knows how to teach, construct lesson plans,
measure the outcome of his own teaching; he knows his parliamentary procedures, having been a member of the
Future Farmers of the Philippines (FFP) in those years.
That’s not surprising. He is a
prophet, in the sense of
predictor of events. Peter
Drucker says, ‘The best way to
predict the future is to invent it.’
William Dar invents it in his
mind and makes things happen
to realize it.
In 1976, he obtained his Master of Science in Agronomy from
MSAC. That means he knows his soil management, land cultivation
and crop production.
In 1980, he received his Doctor of Philosophy in Horticulture
from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). That means
he knows flowers, fruits and vegetables grown in appropriate places:
orchards, gardens, greenhouses.
From Education to Agronomy to Horticulture; further, I see many
other paradigm shifts as I trace his ascent from management
technician in rural Philippines to Chair of a UN Committee on Science
& Technology. The many paradigm shifts in his life explains why he
has a flexible touch of management, a wide grasp of dreams and
realities in the field; why he is innovative, adaptive; how he has come to know, seemingly instinctively, the value of
partnerships. His published books, much of the content being invited lectures, display his grasp of science in the
mind of the scientist, different from science in the mind of the policymaker, different from science in the mind of the
entrepreneur, different from science in the mind of the poor. ‘Science with a human face,’ he calls it.
He was Farm Management Technician for the Bureau of Agricultural Extension of the Department of Agriculture,
assigned in Benguet Province from February to May in 1973, a new BS graduate. The Technician was expected
to advise traditional farmers on modern farming.
Within the same year, from Technician, he graduated to Teacher at the Baguio City High School and taught there
from 1973 to 1975. From farm to classroom was a professional switch, a paradigm shift from working with hard-tomove
minds of farmers to working with moldable minds of students.
He moved on to MSAC and taught there and stayed, rising from Instructor I in 1975 to Instructor V in 1977,
Assistant Professor in 1979, Professor III in 1981, Planning Development Officer in 1982, Special Assistant
to the President for Research, Planning and Development in 1983, Professor VI in 1986, Vice President for
R&D Support Services of BSU (the old MSAC) in 1987. Not many people can rise from an equivalent Teacher to
Assistant Principal like he rose from Instructor to VP in only 12 years. He was Research Coordinator of the
Highland Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium of PCARRD from 1979 to 1987. He
Being A Different Kind Of CV