It is with deep sadness that we announce that our beloved professor Dr Telesforo W Luna, Jr passed away last night, 21 May 2023.
Doc as he was fondly called by his students and colleagues was a pioneer in Philippine geography. He completed his PhD in Clark University and taught courses as varied as applied climatology and physiography to economic geography to cartography. The way he taught graphics and cartography may be old-school now by today’s standards, but many students valued the rigor and discipline that came with creating map projections using a ruling pen and vellum and compass.
Doc was unrelenting in his teaching methods, exacting, even. Many of his students shed tears from his strict adherence to rules to train better geographers. But they are all memorable. He used to say that he’d be happy if students remembered the jokes he made in class, but most of us remember shatterbelts, game theory, stereographic projection, suitcase farming, eskers and many more.
Please share your stories here to commemorate a life well lived. Post pictures of Dr Luna if you have them.
Wake is in Santo Domingo Church, Mexico, Pampanga. Burial is on Thursday, 25 May 2023.
Source: UP Department of Geography Facebook
