History Timeline

 

  • Act No. 74 of the Philippine Commission provided for a formal Philippine Educational system and the establishment of the Philippine Normal School in Manila.
  • Act No. 372 authorized provincial governments to set up secondary schools to be funded from their own coffers.

  • School Superintendent Dr. Najeeb Saleeby opened the secondary school in Zamboanga with 26 students under the Principalship of Mr. Charles Cameron, a Thomasite from Le Roy, New York.
  • The School was formally referred to as the Provincial Secondary School in the then Moro Province.
  • General Howard Tasker Bliss, then military governor of Mindanao, took over the Principalship and military supervision of the school.

  • General John ‘Blackjack’ Pershing took over the military supervision of the school. By then, the school became a tributary normal school to the Philippine Normal College in Manila.

  • The school finally became the Provincial Normal School with a civilian Principal – Mr. Raymond Stephens. Its enrollment increased to 990 students.
  • Construction of the Normal Hall costing US$ 200,000 began under the supervision of Architect Juan Arellano. Most of the fixtures of the building were imported from the United States.

  • The Normal Hall in Baliwasan was ready for full occupation.

  • The School closed its doors with the start of World War II. The Normal Hall became the First Field Hospital of the American Military Forces.

  • Following the liberation, the Normal School reopened its gates and the first batch of graduates of the General Normal Curriculum was awarded their Elementary Teacher’s Certificate.


  • By virtue of Republic Act No. 3272, the school was elevated to the Zamboanga Normal College. Mr. Fabian Abitona, the last of the Normal School Principals, became the new college’s Officer-in-Charge.


  • Mrs. Ignacia B. Olaso became the Officer-in-Charge of the school following the death of Mr. Abitona in 1968.
  • Dr. Domingo G. Soriano, a native of Nueva Ecija and husband of then Director of Public Schools, Dr. Liceria Soriano, became President and served from 1968 to 1971.

  • Philippine Congress passed Republic Act No. 5492 converting the Zamboanga Normal College into the Zamboanga State College.


  • Mrs. Ignacia B. Olaso was appointed President and served until 1977. She was the first woman President of a State College in the country and the college’s first alumna to become President.
  • The University Bill was filed in the pre-martial law Congress, and the Graduate School was organized.


  • Dr. Juanito A. Bruno sat as Officer-in-Charge of the college and oversaw its transition to a university. Presidential Decree No. 1427 was signed on June 10, 1978 transforming the ZSC into the Western Mindanao State University. Dr. Bruno became Acting President of the new university.


  • Dr. Bruno was appointed Regional Director of the then Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) and Dr. Bernabela L. Ko became the First University President and served until 1991.


  • Dr. Erdulfo D. Fernando was appointed Second President of the university. A Zamboangueño and an alumnus of the Zamboanga Normal School, he served in the position until his retirement in 1997.


  • Dr. Eldigario D. Gonzales assumed as 3rd University President. He ushered in a new and progressive culture in the university focusing on a 15-point Agenda for Development. He pursued an agressive faculty development program that made it the strongest academic force in the region.

  • WMSU became the 6th top university in the country per CHED survey and is considered one of the lead higher education institutions in Mindanao.


  • Dr. Eldigario D. Gonzales resigned from the Presidency.
  • On September 2007, Dr. Grace J. Rebollos, the first summa cum laude graduate of the university became its 4th President and the second woman to hold the position.