Nicanor Tiongson is a leading critic, creative writer and academic from the Philippines. He holds a Bachelor of Humanities degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, and M.A. and Ph. D in Philippine Studies from the University of the Philippines. A founding member of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, Tiongson is currently Professor of Film and Audiovisual Communication at the College of Mass Communications in U.P. Diliman.
Tiongson was a Visiting Professor at Osaka University of Foreign Studies in Japan; and Fulbright Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley; University of Michigan; University of California, Los Angeles; and University of Hawaii at Manoa. Tiongson also received an Australian Cultural Award for his extensive research on Philippine culture , resulting in two pioneering works on Philippine drama: Kasaysayan at Estetika ng Sinakulo at Ibang Dulang Panrelihiyon sa Malolos and Kasaysayan ng Komedya sa Pilipinas.
Tiongson was vice-president and artistic director of the Cultural Center of the Philippnes (CCP) from 1986 to 1994. He conceptualized a new direction for the CCP, in 1986, and subsequently authored a comprehensive cultural development plan that has broadened the scope of the CCP Outreach Programs nationwide. He paved the way to give more opportunities and recognition for regional artists and arts organizations through productions, conferences, forum-lectures, publication and research. He continuously writes history and criticisms about local arts and culture that serve as reference materials of scholars, researchers, academicians, and young students of the present generation.
Tiongson was also the Philippine Director of Sangandaan 2003, a cultural commemoration that highlighted the arts and media produced by Filipinos, Americans and Filipino-Americans in the course of Philippine-U.S. relations from 1899 to 2002. The cultural events were commemorated in the Philippines on July 6-30, 2003 under the sponsorship of the University of the Philippines, the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the San Francisco State University, in collaboration with numerous public and private institutions in the Philippines such as the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the National Historical Institute, the National Library, the National Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Ateneo de Manila University, and De La Salle University-Manila, and in the United States such as the City College of San Francisco, and the University of San Francisco.