Elena E. Pernia

ELENA E. PERNIA, PHD has spent roughly forty years in communication/media education, research, planning and evaluation. Her highly distinguished academic career has focused on building the capacity of students, local governments, health professionals, and civil society organizations to design, implement, and evaluate their own communication programs. Her research efforts cross various fields, including conventional mass media, social media, health and science communication, technology-mediated teaching and learning. She has authored and published several books and articles in academic journals on communication research and media literacy, conducted and led various social science research projects, and produced multiple creative programs for television and digital media.
Dr. Pernia is a retired Professor of Communication of the University of the Philippines College of Media and Communication (formerly, College of Mass Communication) where she served as Dean twice, from 2006 to 2009 and from August 2015 to January 2019. Immediately before her retirement, she served as Vice-President for Public Affairs of the University of the Philippines System, from January 2019 to February 2023. For two terms, 2012-2023 and 2023-2025, she led the Philippines Communication Society (PCS) as its President.
From 2012 to 2016, Dr. Pernia was the Press Ombudsman or Readers’ Advocate at the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Over various years in her professional life, she served on the boards of the Social Science Division of the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), the Singapore-based Asian Journal of Communication, and the International Communication Association (ICA). She also sat on the executive boards of the Philippine Center for Communication Programs (PCCP) and the Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society, Philippine Alpha Chapter. From 2019 to 2023, she took up an appointment at the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, representing the non-government organizations, communication and information. Currently, she is on the board of UGAT Foundation, dedicated to promoting and addressing the mental health and wellbeing of the underserved Filipino individuals and families.
Throughout her career, Dr. Pernia has received various awards and recognitions; among them teaching awards (e.g., the Senior Faculty Teaching Award in 2018), leadership awards (e.g., 2015 CEO Award from the International Association of Business Communicators), program excellence awards (e.g., Gold Quill for the National Communication Research Conference in 2015 and IABC Gold Quill Award of Merit in 2022), alumni awards (e.g., 1991 Outstanding Alumna in Communication Research from the UP-CMC, 2022 Teresa Award from the St. Theresa’s College, 2025 UPAA Distinguished Alumni Award in Education from the University of the Philippines).