Before his appointment as the National Statistician and Civil Registrar General, Dr. Dennis S. Mapa served as Dean and Professor in Statistics of the School of Statistics at the University of the Philippines (UP). He also held notable positions in various organizations and projects such as UP Statistical Center Research Foundation, Inc. (UPSCRFI), Governing Board of the Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute (PSRTI), Philippine Statistical Association, Inc. (PSAI), and the Gas Policy Development Project (GPDP).

A multi-awarded researcher, Dr. Mapa continuously conducts researches in the areas of poverty analysis, household savings, fertility, population dynamics, measuring market risk, and forecasting methods for volatility which has won many awards. Aside from being a researcher, he has also written chapters for nationally- and internationally-published books and monographs in the areas of population, poverty and hunger, youth unemployment, and energy.

Dr. Mapa has a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics, two Master’s degrees—in Economics and in Statistics, and has a Doctorate in Economics, all from UP Diliman. His research interests are in the areas of Econometric and Financial Time Series Analysis, Empirical Economic Growth, Poverty Analysis and Impact Evaluation.