University of Santo Tomas–Legazpi

The investiture of the first rector and president of the new university, Father Salinas, was held on February 3, 1969, amidst pageantry and color, attended by local, national, and foreign dignitaries.

The Aquinas University Bureau of Small Scale Industries opened in 1973 the short-term, non-degree ladder-type course on Abacacraft Technology and Management.

The course is offered to train selected out-of-school youth the necessary skills for the handicraft industry in the Bicol Region.

Engineering, Architecture, and Fine Arts classes are now held in a new building, the two-storey Fra Angelico.

The AQ Labor Management Council has been a national finalist in the 2005 Search for Outstanding LMC for Industrial Peace, reflecting the harmonious labor-management relations in the University.

Established in 2002, the Aquinas University Foundation, Inc. (AQFI) has incubated various sustainable enterprises growing and producing indigenous and environment-friendly products, in the process helping reach out and bring employment to people in the rural areas.

The AQFI has also invested in coconut coir production and a system of deriving income from initiated and supported cooperative projects.

"Bahay ni Kuya" in Albay District is now a Life Coaching and Wellness Center which is a timely response to the periodic calamities that visit the region.

The Kyama Building near the downtown district now houses the AQ Pharmacy, a ‘botika ng bayan’ that dispenses low cost medicine.

The AQFI has earmarked these estates as relocation sites for some 800 to 900 families displaced by super typhoon Reming.