Liborio Gomez, MD, MS, PhD

Dr. Liborio Gomez, pathologist, medical educator, scientist and administrator, is a permanent and hallowed figure in the history and development of Pathology and Medical Education in the country.

Born in San Fernando, Pampanga on July 23, 1887, Dr. Gomez' early education culminated in a Bachelor of Arts degree from Liceo de Manila, Letran, in 1903. Because of his excellent academic records and his good personal qualities, he was easily te unanimous choice as a gvernment fellow to the University of Chicago (Rush Medical College) where in five years, he received his Doctor of Medicine, a Master in Science and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Pathology in 1908. Upon his return to the Philippines, he was one of the first formally trained Filipino Pathologists in the country. He served the government as a Bacteriologist at the Bureau of Science until 1923 wwhen he was appointed as Professor of Pathology and Bacteriology at the University of the Philippines, College of Medicine. Three years later, he became the Head of the Department. For twenty-six years, he served as Head, guiding the teaching and practice of Pathology in the Institttution. In 1953, he retired from the University of the Philippines after reaching the age of 66 only to be faced with the challenge of establishing and heading the department of Pathology and Microbiology in a newly organized medical school, the FEU-Dr. Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation. True to his desire in extending his knowledge and experience wherever this was needed, he worked faithfully and assiduously in this new assignment as Chairman and Professor until his death in 1958.

In all this time, Dr. Gomez was a strong and forceful influence upon thousands of young medical students, residents in pathology and trained pathologists who came under his tutelage. He was the moving spirit in the organization of the Philippine Society of Pathologists and served as its first president. It is in his honor that the Dr. Liborio Gomez Memorial Award and Lecture was established.

An unfailing example of humility, dedication and integrity, Dr. Gomez will always be remembered in the hearts of every men and women of te society as a man whose visions had gone a long way in the realization of a dream.

His memory will always be a source of inspiration.

His name, a legacy, will be passed on from this generation to the next.