2003 – Cebu City, Philippines
Professor Nelia Cruz Sarcol is a renowned scholar, educator and community leader, known for her outstanding contributions to education and the advancement of entrepreneurship in the Philippines. A magna cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman, she has been honored as a lifetime member of the Phi Kappa Phi (academic) and Pi Gamma Mu (social science) honor societies. In 1999 she was recognized, along with now-Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, as the “Most Distinguished Alumnae.” In 2000 Professor Sarcol was featured on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine (Philippine edition), and in a banner story highlighting her struggles to set up a high-standards school in 1985, when she was only in her early 20s. This feature story also traced the phenomenal growth of her Child Development Centre-Cebu (CDCC), which is now CIE Global Colleges, a complete school system from basic to higher education. Her personal values grounded in prayer, planning, persistence, passion, hard work, competence and gratitude are reflected in the educational mission of this innovative, leading edge institution. Professor Sarcol also is the original proponent of the NCS Gear Theory of Curriculum Design and the CIE Instructional Blueprint. She has been recognized by Cebu magazine as one of the most influential and prominent persons contributing to the political, social, economic and cultural milieu of the nation. She is an “innovator, risk-taker and idea maker”.She and her husband William, Chairman of the Board of Global Network Communications Solutions, are the parents of one son.
