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DON SALVADOR Z. ARANETA
Founder
Dr. Salvador Araneta was born on January 31, 1902 and passed away on October 7, 1982. He was a lawyer by profession and was a product of a Jesuit College and a Dominican University in Manila. He had a one-year special course at the Harvard Law School.
He was the co-founder and president of two educational institutions that have attained the status of universities - FEATI University and Gregorio Araneta University Foundation (GAUF). He donated a substantial share of his fortune to the latter university and, thus, converted it into a foundation in honor of his father, Gregorio Araneta, who served in the First Republic of the Philippines in 1899 and was the only Filipino to attain a cabinet level position during that time, when he was appointed Secretary of Finance and Justice by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt upon the recommendation of William Howard Taft, the US Secretary of War.
Salvador Araneta was also a co-founder and president of many pioneer industrial enterprises in the Philippines. He likewise joined the government service and served two Philippine Presidents. He served as Secretary of Economic Coordination in the Cabinet of President Quirino and as Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the Cabinet of President Magsaysay. He was also a delegate to the Constitutional Conventions of 1934-35 and 1971-72.
For his contributions in many fields, Salvador Araneta was honored by Fordham University, the Vatican, The Republic of the Philippines, and many Philippine civic and trade organizations.