Gelia T. Castillo

Gelia Tagumpay Castillo (March 3, 1928 – August 5, 2017) was a Filipino sociologist. She specialized in rural sociology and was a pioneer of the concept of participatory development. She was a university professor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Her 1977 book Beyond Manila examined rural development in the Philippines. She was named a National Scientist of the Philippines in 1999.

Early life and education Gelia Tagumpay was born in Pagsanjan, Laguna on March 3, 1928.

She earned her AB in psychology from the University of the Philippines Diliman, graduating magna cum laude in 1953. She earned an MS in rural sociology from Pennsylvania State University the same year. She went on to study at Cornell University, earning her PhD in rural sociology in 1960.

Castillo specialized in rural sociology and examined agricultural and rural development in the Philippines.

Castillo served on the governing board of the International Development Research Centre of Canada from 1979 to 1990. and was a trustee of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

A hybrid of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis was named after her in 2000, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Gelia T. Castillo'. The Gelia Castillo Award for Research on Social Innovations in Health was established in 2020.

Personal life Castillo married Leopoldo S. Castillo, an animal nutritionist. They had three children–Evello (Bobby), Gertrudes, and Nina.

Selected bibliography All in a Grain of Rice (1975) The Filipino Woman as Manpower (1976) Beyond Manila (1977) Rice in our Life (2006)