Cordilleran international debater and mathematician graduates as Ateneo’s valedictorian

Balancing academic excellence and passion is turning well for Robert Nelson "Tobi" Leung, a son of Baguio City, as he topped the Ateneo Class of 2025, marking another milestone in his academic journey. 

Robert Nelson, 22, fondly called ‘Tobi’ by his close acquaintance, recently graduated as the Valedictorian of the Ateneo de Manila University Class of 2025, with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics degree and Summa Cum Laude distinction.

As cited by Ateneo De Manila, one of the top universities in the Philippines, the milestone marked his most unforgettable college moment as he felt sure of himself after struggling with self-doubt for years.

“Those are so rare — the moments where you can just look back at... all the things you’ve sacrificed and say it was all worth it,” he said.

To the young orator, this recognition confirms the value of the nontraditional life he’s chosen — as a scholar, a mathematician, and a debater.

Remarkable achievements of Tobi

Tobi is no stranger to academic praises. At just 18, he made history as the first Filipino to be named Overall Best Speaker at the World Schools Debate Championships in 2021, widely considered the Olympics of high school debate.

At 20, Tobi secured the Overall Second Best Speaker title at the 2023 World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC), as part of Team Ateneo A, held in Madrid, Spain from December 27, 2022 to January 3, 2023.

Apart from being the best wordsmith, Tobi, with fellow Atenean David Africa, made history as the first-ever champions from both the Philippines and Southeast Asia at the renowned WUDC, triumphing over elite teams from Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, National University of Singapore, and London School of Economics.

In 2020, as cited by Philippine Science High School System – Cordillera Administrative Campus (PSHS-CARC), the young debater who is an alumna of Pisay, led the team in the back-to-back championships in the Philippine Schools Debate Championships, the country’s largest and longest-running high school debate tournament, marking the first win by a school outside Metro Manila.

Further, the young beacon topped the entire PSHS’s 16 campuses with the highest general weighted average for the school year 2020–2021.

Tobi, meantime, looks ahead after college and plans to continue his studies with a Master’s in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics at the London School of Economics.

“A little bit of economics, a little bit of math — so staying close to my Applied Math roots, but with a policy focus,” he says. “My ultimate goal is to come back, to serve in some capacity — whether in research and public policy, even in industry,” Tobi was quoted saying.