SIL Philippines
Beginnings
Serving Language Communities through Linguistics, Literacy and Translation
Dr. Richard S. Pittman
(1916 - 1998)
Drawing by Filipino artist
Mariano Peñalver from
a photo by Cornell Cappa.
Beginnings in the Fifties
Early in the decade of the 1950s Dr. Richard S. Pittman was asked to visit the islands of the Philippines to confirm the need for linguistic services of the type SIL had to offer. His first trip to Asia in 1951 resulted in a phone call the following year from Ramon Magsaysay (who would later become President of the Philippines), encouraging SIL to begin work in his country.
McKaughan Family
In late 1952 Richard Pittman and Howard McKaughan of SIL arrived in Manila. Eighteen additional linguist-translators followed in early 1953 when the official agreement was signed with Department of Education.
Two decades later, when SIL received the prestigious Magsaysay Award for International Understanding, Dr. Pittman returned to Manila to accept the award on behalf of SIL.