Dr. Imelda P. De Castro is the former Chairperson of the Filipino Department of the University of Santo Tomas, where she is also a full professor and researcher. She obtained her Doctor of Arts in Language and Literature Degree (with high distinction) from De La Salle University Manila, where she also received an Academic Excellence Award. She teaches Filipino language, rhetoric, literature, translation, lexicography and research.
Dr. De Castro is also a textbook evaluator and validator of the K-12 Program at the Philippine Department of Education and former Assistant Secretary of the National Committee on Language and Translation, National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Her expertise in creative writing was affirmed when she won Second Place in the Criticism in Essay-Writing Awards Collantes Prize organized by the Commission on the Philippine Language in 2001. She also served as judge in the Filipino essay category of the prestigious Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature in 2008.
As a researcher, Dr. De Castro has received numerous awards and citations from the University Research Coordination Council (URCO) of the De La Salle University Manila. She also authored and co-authored reference books in Computer Studies in Filipino (DLSU, 1999), Filipino in Different Disciplines, Rhetoric and Let’s Converse in Filipino. She was also invited to present research papers in international conferences such as the International Conference on Translation and Bilingual Dictionaries held in Chinese University of Hongkong in February 2004; International Conference on Specialized Translation in Barcelona, Spain in March, 2005; and International Conference on Translating and the Computer in London, United Kingdom in November, 2003. She has also published an article in Lexicografia Manor, an internationally-refereed journal based in Tubingen, Germany and an international monograph about translation and lexicography in the University of London.
At present, she is an Executive Council Member of the National Committee on Language and Translation-National Commission on Culture and the Arts under the Office of the President of the Philippines.
She is also a Professorial Chair Holder of Tranquilino Valderrama in Literature, Cecilio Lopez in Language and Fransisco Ortigas Sr. in Humanities at De La Salle University-Manila, 2000-2005.
Dr. De Castro also taught Advanced Filipino and interviewer in the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) to the Fulbright-Hays scholars of the Advanced Filipino Abroad Program organized by the Department of Education of the United States, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and De La Salle University Manila.