WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Carmen (Lavilla) Cortez

PHOTOS 1. Carmen at the UPCVM Batch '79 California reunion in April 2006; 2-5. Carmen and her husband Mike Cortez on their wedding; 6. Carmen at Central Park's Bethesda Fountain; 7. Carmen with Filipino movie and Broadway star Lea Salonga; 8. Carmen with Hollywood and Broadway actor Antonio Banderas; 9. a section of the New York City College of Technology-CUNY campus

Carmencita (Lavilla) Cortez and her husband Mike Cortez live in New York City while her children, Alexander and Athens reside in the Philippines. Carmen recently joined the faculty of the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn, one of the four colleges within the City University of New York (CUNY) system. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical and Biological Sciences. She has also been teaching Anatomy and Physiology to nursing students at the Borough of Manhattan Community College-CUNY, while holding a part-time position in a neurology clinic in Queens. Although her career veered off from veterinary practice and research, she maintains a link to the veterinary field by serving as the Secretary of the Philippine Veterinary Medical Association, Inc., USA.

After veterinary school, Carmen achieved a master’s degree in reproductive physiology at UP Los Banos in 1986. She earned her Ph.D. in Reproductive Physiology and Therapeutics at Hokkaido University in Japan in 1992. Her work experience in the Philippines included a teaching post at the Araneta University Foundation and a position in pre-clinical research and livestock management projects. She was a coordinator, senior research specialist, training director and lecturer for the GTZ Philippines-German technical cooperation project geared towards development in livestock economics. She garnered awards and citations for her research and her work as a veterinarian. Carmen published several research papers and presented her research work at scientific meetings. Prior to settling in New York, Carmen also lived in Canada and Chicago.

A physical fitness enthusiast, Carmen loves mountain-climbing and ballroom dancing. Now a bona fide New Yorker, Carmen also enjoys Broadway musicals, museums, Yankee baseball games, and strolling at Central Park. When asked by her friends to go stargazing for fun outside stage doors in the theatre district of Manhattan, she’ll be there in a New York minute!