Author

B Punzalan

Bernard T. Punzalan is the founder and principal collaborator of the Chamorro Roots Genealogy Project.

He is the fourth of eight children born to Eustaquio Anderson Punzalan (Familian Che’/Pansi) and Rosita Leon Guerrero Cruz (Familian Matias/Jai) of Tamuning.

Bernard, his wife, the former Josephine Marie Guerrero Manibusan (Familian Robat/Le’le) and his three sons (Brandon, Bryant and Bernard II) relocated to Spanaway, Washington in October 2003, in order for their sons to complete their educational goals.

At the age of 14, Punzalan was one of the first and one of the youngest members of the 1st and 2nd Guam Youth Congress, representing the village of Tamuning. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Guam with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration. In addition, Punzalan has a Master of Public Administration degree from Bellevue University in Bellevue, Nebraska.

His career includes more than 20 years of combined enlisted and commissioned officer service with the US Army Reserves, US Army Active Duty, and finally retiring as a Captain with the Guam Army National Guard in 1999, with branch qualifications in human resources, and military finance and accounting. From 1991 to 1993 he was a Personnel Specialist IV with the Department of Administration. From 1993 to 1997, he worked with the Guam Historic Preservation Office (where his interest in genealogy began) as a Program Coordinator serving as the network administrator. From 1997 to 2003, he worked with the Guam Economic Development Authority and held the position of Program Coordinator IV, Administration and Operations Manager and Business Development Director. In 1999 and 2001 Bernard was awarded Manager of the Year, under the Governor’s Employee Recognition Program.

From 2005 – 2009, Punzalan worked as a Grants and Contracts Manager with The Geneva Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Lakewood, Washington that supports and promotes the advancement of military medicine through research and development. Following that assignment, Bernard was subsequently recruited and hired in the federal civil service with the Department of the Army as a Grants Manager at the Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-Mchord, Washington. Punzalan currently oversees and manages medical research grants and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements for the Army’s Western Region Medical Command.

Guampedia entries by Bernard T. Punzalan

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