Dr. Michael C. Morales, Ph.D is the second president of MOL Magsaysay Maritime Academy. His term officially started in November 2019, serving after founding President, Dr. Carlito S. Puno.

Dr Morales was commissioned as a naval officer in 1983 and served with the Philippine Coast Guard. In 1986, he volunteered for instructor duty at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and joined its permanent military faculty. As an educator, he spearheaded educational reforms at PMA and introduced a back-subject system in 1991 to minimize cadet attrition and save funds. He introduced academic majors in 1993 to prepare future officers to be effective in an increasingly complex battlespace. He proposed the creation of the Center for Academic Excellence which launched programs to improve the teaching and learning experience at the academy. As a computer scientist, he developed a network-based marine radar simulator in the 1990s that was used to teach naval and maritime cadets how to navigate by radar.

As chief of educational plans, he was given the task of finding a lasting solution to the academy’s perennial problem of high cadet attrition due to hazing, academic deficiency and growing disregard for the cadet honor system. His research interest thus shifted from computer science to leadership, which remains his advocacy to this day. He has studied how leaders are developed in many countries. As a senior research fellow of the Japan Foundation, he studied training at the military academies of Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. He later continued his study as a Fulbright visiting scholar at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

President Morales retired from the military in 2007 with the rank of Colonel. He continues to provide leadership training and consultancy for the Philippine Military Academy, Philippine National Police Academy and other government agencies.

He graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1983 with a degree in mathematical sciences, earned his master’s degree in computer science from the Ateneo de Manila University, and a Ph.D. in software engineering from Cranfield University in the U.K. He was awarded as one of the country’s outstanding teachers by the Metrobank Foundation. He is also a recipient of The Outstanding Philippine Soldiers (TOPS) award.

President Morales has been happily married to Lillian for 35 years and they have three grown children and two grandchildren.