On the occasion of the 2013 celebration of Silliman University’s Founders Day on August 28th, it is important that the Silliman community is reminded of the University’s admirable record in the pursuit of its academic program over the years of her existence as university since the 1930s. I refer to the achievements of Sillimanians in the various academic areas and disciplines. These achievements go far beyond good teaching and learning; they serve as indicators of how well Silliman teachers have influenced their students through the teaching of their subject specialties, and are often used by those responsible for the evaluation of the impact of academic institutions in the country.
Silliman’s education has contributed substantially to the professional development of Filipinos. There are many outstanding Sillimanians in various fields of human endeavor. To name some: outstanding lawyers, medical doctors, nurses, musicians, writers, journalists, artists, business people, churchmen, athletes, scientists, administrators, teachers, etc. The list of Outstanding Silliman awardees includes many of them. And many more outstanding Silliman graduates probably remain unrecognized.
I will not say much about the outstanding Silliman professionals, although I know that they have contributed to the academic reputation of the University and many of them are my friends and research supporters. Some were my students in the past. I would like to comment on research programs, about which international educators have expressed the view that universities are the academic institutions charged with the responsibility of promoting research. (Many scholarly activities and works in the humanities areas are of course not considered research and are excluded from this review.) The QS global and regional evaluation of universities probably considers that 25-30% of the ratings of universities are based on high quality research publications as indexed in ISI and SCOPUS databases.
Scientific research at Silliman began after the arrival on the campus of Dr. James W. Chapman in 1916 and continued until his death in 1964. The subjects of his pioneering studies were the ant species of the genus Aenictus on Cuernos de Negros, Negros Oriental. Chapman’s studies made him famous, but the implication of his studies was brought out only later by his colleagues at Harvard University led by Dr. E.O. Wilson, who with Dr. Robert MacArthur used ants as examples for their equilibrium theory (1960s) on the relationship of habitat area and number of species of a taxonomic group. In a nutshell, Chapman established a research program that tends to inspire faculty members to conduct research.
The next phase in the development of research at Silliman occurred at the Department of Biology. In 1946, at the invitation of Professor G.T. Magdamo, Dr. D.S. Rabor, who became the authority on Philippine birds and mammals, came to Silliman to teach and to continue his research on taxonomy and ecology of birds and mammals. He invited three young graduates, Rodolfo Gonzales, Querubin Bael, and myself to be members of the Biology faculty. Later, one of Chapman’s students, Alfredo Y. Reyes, joined the faculty. All of us (except Bael) became active in research, Gonzales on behavior of birds and mammals, Reyes on ants and food habits of lizards, and myself on ecology and taxonomy of amphibians and reptiles. Research took a large part of our spare time in the 1950s and 1960s, since we carried fulltime teaching loads that extended far beyond the required hours spent in actual teaching, including overtime lecture and laboratory work to help our students learn biology. The fieldwork for our studies was done during school vacations.
At about the same time, many faculty members of another department in the University were also active in research—the Department of Social Sciences. The faculty members were: Dr. Agaton Pal, Professor Eulalio Maturan, Dr. Rowe Cadeliña, Professor Timoteo Oracion, Dr. and Mrs. Hubert Reynolds, Dr. Elena Maquiso, and Dr. Peter Gowing. Dr. Agaton Pal was the acknowledged leader in Rural Sociology at Silliman and in the country in the 1950s and 1960s. Later, Dr. Betty Abregana, and Dr. Paul Lauby also published research papers. At the present time, only two social scientists, Dr. Earl Jude Cleofe and Dr. Ike Oracion, seem to be “holding the fort” for social science.
Some time later, the Silliman University Medical Center became well known for its research on rabies and viruses. Dr. George W. Beran and his colleagues, Dr. Sam Gregorio, Dr. Macasaet, Mr. Nakao, and Mr. Edmundo Elviña. It is too bad that the fine work of the Van Houweling Laboratory at the SUMC was discontinued.
With the completion of the new marine laboratory building funded by USAID in the late 1990s, the research programs of the Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences and the Silliman University-Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management were expanded. Our studies on both marine and terrestrial biodiversity have been recognized internationally and have been conducted in collaboration with many scientists from the U.S.A., Australia, Vietnam, U.K. and the Philippines Publications of SUAKCREM number almost 200, and about 40 of them deal with biodiversity and marine protected areas. The program on marine protected areas is the most innovative and has received at least four national awards from the Commission on Higher Education and the DOST and two international awards (the Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation in 1999 and the Magsaysay Award in 1992). This program has entered the phase showing the connection of marine protected areas to a sustainable fishery and marine biodiversity conservation as well to a sustainable tourism in southern Philippines. After this, SUAKCREM is expected to enlarge its vision to include other parts of the Philippines.
The foregoing discussion should convince faculties of universities to consider engaging in research to improve their professional status and bring honor and recognition to their own institutions.
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Author’s email: suakcrem@yahoo.com
