Profiles

Adriano A. Arcelo ’63 has never forgotten the profound influence the Wien International Scholarship Program had on his life. Neither, apparently, did his mother.

While going through her effects after she died in 2000, Arcelo was startled to discover she had saved a picture of him with program founders Lawrence and Mae Wien. The picture had been taken when he was introduced to the Wiens for the first time during a reception at Brandeis.

“My mother was always very grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Wien for helping me realize my dreams,” the former undersecretary of education, culture and sports in his native Philippines said. “Brandeis was really the key that opened the door of opportunity for me.”

Arcelo certainly turned opportunity into accomplishment during a career dedicated to serving his homeland – as a prominent economist, highly respected academic and researcher, and leading advocate for higher education in the Philippines.

In addition to his stint as an undersecretary during the administration of President Corazon Aquino, he spent 20 years as a professor of economics and planning at the University of the Philippines, and another three decades heading a foundation that helps fund educational programs at private colleges and universities in the country. Now retired, Arcelo serves as director of the Research and Development Center at John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University, the country’s first maritime university and the only private maritime university in the world. His wife, Marylou, is the chief executive officer of the university.

“Brandeis was a great experience,” said Arcelo, who earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at Brandeis. “The quality of the education is among the best in the world. I interacted with the Wien Scholars from all over the world. The Brandeis community embraced us. Being a Wien Scholar is something I treasured so much.”

He vividly remembers taking an international relations class organized by Eleanor Roosevelt, the former First Lady and early Brandeis supporter. The class made frequent trips to the United Nations, where the students (including friend and Congressman-to-be Stephen Solarz ’62) met Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet minister for foreign affairs; Adlai Stevenson, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations at the time; and Gen. Carlos P. Romulo, then the Philippine ambassador to the United Nations.

Arcelo and other Wien Scholars briefly considered leaving campus during the Cuban missile crisis in the fall of 1962. “We were given the choice (by the Brandeis administration) to go home if we wanted to because the threat of war was so real,” he recalled. “We met together one night and all decided to stay.” 

Arcelo has maintained his Brandeis connections through the years. When Lawrence and Mae Wien visited the Philippines in the mid-1970s, he hosted a reception for Wien alumni from the country (in all, 12 Wien Scholars have come from the Philippines). He also hosted an event for Solarz while he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He keeps in touch with many Wien alumni and frequently visits them during his travels abroad.

“The Wien Scholars have a very strong bond with each other and with Brandeis,” he said. “We all realize how fortunate we were to be a part of the program.”

While he has enjoyed all of his various professional vocations, he derived the most satisfaction from teaching, which gave him the chance to impart the knowledge he had acquired at Brandeis and during his graduate studies (at Macquarie University in Australia, and the University of Liverpool and the University of London in England) to his students.

“It’s so fulfilling to see so many of my students go on to become highly successful,” he said. “Everywhere I go, I see former students who are president of banks, in the cabinet of various administrations in the Philippine government, congressmen, and successful academics. I think that is the greatest joy of teaching -- you see the living and vibrant fruits of your labor.”