TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA - Aprodicio A. Laquian, Professor Emeritus of community and regional planning at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, will speak on his book about the half-century of Filipino migration to Canada, he co-authored with his wife Eleanor. The couple devoted years of research to this history.

The lecture will be held at a forum sponsored by the Philippine Press Club-Ontario on July 10, 2008 at Casa Manila on 879 York Mills Road at 6:30 p.m.

Laquian has authored and edited about 18 books and published more than 60 journal articles and book chapters.

He holds a BA in public administration from the University of the Philippines and a Ph.D. in urban studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also has a long list of career successes in leading centers for development research in the US, Canada and the United Nations. He has as well served briefly as chief of staff for former President Joseph Estrada who was once his student.

After retiring from UBC in 2001, he was named a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Techonology’s department of urban studies and planning. In 2002-2003, he was a resident scholar at the WWICS where he wrote a book on the planning and governance of the largest mega-urban regions in Asia.

He was director of the Centre for Human Settlements and at UBC's School Community and Regional Planning from 1991-2000. Before joining UBC, he worked with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with postings in the South Pacific (1982-84), China (1984-1990) and New York (1990).

From 1971-1979, he headed the urban development program of the International Development Research Centre with postings in Ottawa and Nairobi. Laquian had also been a professor of public administration at the University of the Philippines and a visiting professor in urban planning at the University of Hawaii (1968-69) and the University of Nairobi (1977-79).