Central Philippine University is a private research university located in Jaro, Iloilo City, Philippines. Established in 1905 through the benevolent grant of the American industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller as the Jaro Industrial School and Bible School under the supervision of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, it is the first Baptist and second-American founded university in the Philippines and Asia.
The Reverend William Valentine, the founder and first president of Central
Aerial view of the part of Central's main campus in the north-eastern side in the early 1960s. During World War II, Central's entire properties, was heavily damaged.
Heads of Central Philippine University (which are all Americans) from its founding until 1966 when Rex D. Drilon became the first Filipino president.
William Orison Valentine was an innovative educator and missionary in service of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society who established and served as first president of Jaro Industrial School, now Central Philippine University. He ministered for some thirty years in Asia, first in Burma starting in 1895 and in the Philippines from 1904 until his death in 1928 at the age of 65.
The Central Philippine University was founded by William Valentine along with his other co-founders through the grant that was given by the American philanthropist, oil magnate and industrialist, John D. Rockefeller.
The Valentine Hall on the campus of Central Philippine University is a monument built and dedicated in memory of William Valentine.