Dr. Weerapon Thongma, Acting President of Maejo University, Thailand, challenged fellow graduates of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) to become leaders of their institutions during the UPLB Graduate School Hooding and Recognition Ceremonies held on 21 June 2019.
The ceremony was attended by 358 master's and doctoral students, one day before receiving their graduate degrees at the 47th UPLB Commencement Exercises.
An alumnus also of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) under the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)-SEARCA scholarship which supported his PhD (extension education) study at UPLB, Dr. Weerapon shared his insights on how to be successful with UPLB's graduating master's and doctoral students.
He emphasized the values of ethics and kindness, of doing the right thing and endeavoring to do more than what one has promised in order to succeed as leaders.
Moreover, Dr. Weerapon reminded the graduates, who hail from various parts of the world, that as future leaders, they should enrich their respective skills while being respectful of other people and culture.
Dr. Weerapon is among the many SEARCA alumni who have gone on to occupy positions of leadership in academe, government, research, civil society and private sector in their respective countries or at international institutions.
SEARCA has been awarding scholarships to Southeast Asians since 1968 to build a strong cadre of professionals who can dynamically drive agricultural and rural development in the region.
