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| Jan 2026 photo by Jeruel Bocala Ibañez |
The Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) was established by the Seventh-day Adventist Church because of its commitment to meet the growing needs of the church for college teachers, theologians, church leaders, health professionals, and treasurers with international level, graduate education.
Beginning in 1956, the church offered graduate extension courses from the Theological Seminary (then located in Washington, DC) on the campus of Philippine Union College (PUC), now the Adventist University of the Philippines (AUP). By 1965, PUC had added a degree in Religious Education to their MA offerings, and in 1971, offered an MA in theology.
On March 21, 1972, the Division approved the use of the name “Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Far East” for the new institution, thus creating a Division seminary.
Four years later, in January of 1978, the Seminary and the Graduate School at PUC became the first programs to move from Baesa to the new PUC campus in Puting Kahoy. That same year, the Seminary became an institution of the Far Eastern Division of Seventh-day Adventists. The Division had been financially supporting PUC’s graduate programs, and now took up the decision-making and administrative authority.
The establishment of the Division seminary in 1972 constitutes the founding date for AIIAS, which at first consisted of just the Division seminary. There had been talk for many years of the Division also running certain graduate programs for the workers across the region, but there was no legal means to do so in the Philippines until Presidential Decree 2021 established AIIAS on January 31, 1986. Henceforth, the institution was called AIIAS, and came to be composed of two schools: the Seminary (now called Asia Adventist Theological Seminary), and the Graduate School, which began in 1988 and produced its first graduates in March 1991.
In 1991, AIIAS moved to its present campus near Silang, Cavite. When the Asia-Pacific Division was divided in 1996, AIIAS came under the administration of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, becoming the first General Conference educational institution outside North America.
From its early days, in addition to its campus programs, AIIAS has offered programs at off-campus locations to facilitate the graduate-level educational needs of the church throughout the region. More recently cohort programs expanded to South America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
AIIAS Online was established in 2001 to offer quality, Christian-oriented graduate education to dedicated professionals wherever they may be in the world. In 2007, AIIAS distinguished itself as one of the first Adventist educational institutions to graduate students with master’s degrees from an online learning program entirely on the Internet.
In 2007, AIIAS began the first Seventh-day Adventist Doctor of Philosophy in Business program.
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| P.U.C. School of Graduate Studies Faculty, 1968 Lower, L-R: Dr Engracia A. Rasa, Dr Rogaciano Imperio, Pres. Alfonso P. Roda, Dr Esmeraldo A. De Leon, Middle: Dr Irene Wakeham, Dr Gottfried Oosterwal; Upper: Dr Sydney E. Allen, Jr., Dr Ottis C. Edwards, Dr Donald Halenz, Dr Lawrence A. Eldridge, Dr Leland A. Wilson |
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| SDA Theological Seminary, Far East, 1974 Faculty (seated) Arnold V. Wallenkampf, Norman R. Gulley, Walter O. Comm, Marietta Deming. Photo courtesy of Libni Cerdenio |
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| R&H April 28, 1977 |
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| "The Graduate School and the Theological Seminary (Far East) of PUC..." |
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| SDA Yearbook 1979 |
In 1978, the SDATS FE was established. Dr. Leslie G Hardinge led the Seminary through the initial years, until 1983.11 Dr. Hardinge had a rich experience in ministry and education, having taught at Union College, Lincoln, Nebraska; Washington Missionary College (now Washington Adventist University near Washington, D.C.); Newbold College, (now Newbold College of Higher Education, Bracknell, England) and Pacific Union College, California. He had a Ph.D. from London University.12
In 1978, the Seminary became an institution of the FED, which took full control and financial responsibility for the SDATS FE/Asia Adventist Theological Seminary. The FED applied for registration with the Philippine Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), and in 1980, the SEC registered the SDATS FE as a distinct Educational Corporation. Because many of the students were mature leaders in their respective colleges and church institutions, the need for appropriate housing, outside the dormitories, was recognized. Therefore, several housing towers were constructed with funds from the FED.13 A team from the General Conference Department of Education was also dispatched to check the SDAT FE application for Master of Divinity.14
The SDATS FE continues today as an entity of the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS). In 1986, its name was changed to Asia Adventist Theological Seminary (AATS).15
Dr. Leslie Hardinge’s personal theological library provided the basis for the new institution’s library and became the foundation for what would become the AIIAS Leslie Hardinge Library.16
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| Presidential Decree 2021 |
