ADAMSON UNIVERSITY @ 80
Divine Providence has smiled kindly on this institution of learning as it joined the ranks of the finest universities in Asia by making it to the 2021 Quacquarelli Symonds list of Asia’s 650 best universities.
Arecent Facebook post of Adamson University shows this exhortation to charity: “It is our vocation to set people’s hearts ablaze, to do what the Son of God did, who came to light a fire on earth in order to set it ablaze with His love.” — Frederic Ozanam
The exhortation includes photos of Vincentian volunteers at Adamson’s Covid-19 feeding program in San Marcelino, Manila.
Adamson University turned 80 on 5 February. Divine Providence has smiled kindly on this institution of learning as it joined the ranks of the finest universities in Asia, making it to the 2021 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) list of Asia’s 650 best universities.
The list was released 25 November 2020. Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said on his online program, “Counterpoint,” that seven Filipino universities made it to the list this year. Among the seven is Adamson University (rank 601+). The 2020 QS list had only seven Filipino universities. The 2021 QS list has a total of 14 Filipino universities.
In the brief history given by Adamson’s official website, one could appreciate the unique beginnings of the eight decades-old learning institution. A Greek chemist from Athens, Dr. George Lucas Adamson, started a one-classroom school on 20 June1932. He wanted to train young men and women along the lines of practical industrial chemistry. The school was called Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry (ASIC).
After four years, the Engineering course was added to the school’s curriculum and on 19 February 1936, the school’s name was changed to Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry and Engineering (ASICE). In five years’ time, the administrators of the school added more courses to its curriculum and it became a university on 5 February 1941 upon the approval by the Secretary of Public Instruction.
Although Adamson University is best known for its chemistry and engineering programs, it now offers courses in architecture, liberal arts, business, education, sciences, pharmacy, law and theology. It has also extended its services to the youth through its basic education program.
Its spiritual formation of students, faculty, administratorsandotherpersonnelfollowsthecharismofSt. Vincent de Paul, who led and organized his contemporaries (1581-1660) in France in creatively responding to the needs of the poor.
A Greek chemist, Dr. George Lucas Adamson, started a one-classroom school on 20 June 1932.
My maternal grandfather, Johnny Palanca, was one of the lucky students who figured in the beginnings of the life of Adamson University which started on 20 June 1932. Right after his graduation in 1936, with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Chemistry, he put his education and spiritual formation to good use by working in a mining company in Coron and by managing his own soap factory, a gift from his grandfather. He succumbed to brain cancer in 1946 immediately after the Second World War. He was 28.
He did not live long enough to tell me, his eldest granddaughter, how it was to be among the first batch of graduates of the mother school of Adamson University, the Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry. But his siblings, especially Estefania Palanca-Pe and Sor Mamerta Palanca, Daughter of Charity, have fond memories of him. They have inspired me to discover the greatness of the University which made Lolo Johnny an endearing chemist and a good family man. Soon after graduation, aside from putting his knowledge and skills as a chemist to good use, he also married my grandmother, Leocadia “Lea” Castelo from San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, a graduate of Philippine Normal College.
I had colleagues in Woodrose School (1985-1994) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (1995-1997) who are graduates of Adamson University. They have been outstanding in the field of education.
Animo, Adamson graduates! Set the world ablaze with Christ’s love.