Alumni Update March 20 – 26, 2023
Standing from left to right are Sillimanians, sculptor-painter Francisco M. Verano, Dr. Leslie E. Bauzon, and Rev. Reuben V. Espartinez. Seated is Dr. Aurora Feliciano Bauzon, the better half of Dr. Leslie E. Bauzon.
Dr. Leslie E. Bauzon, Outstanding Sillimanian Awardee, received the Phi Kappa Phi Distinguished Achievement Award for History and Archaeology Research and Scholarship during the University of the Philippines (UP) Phi Kappa Phi Chapter’s 90th Anniversary Recognition Program “Pagdayaw,” March 17, 2023 at the UP Bahay ng Alumni.
Bauzon was recognized for his active role in “helping uplift the poor, the Indigenous People, and their human rights, especially the Mamanwa; in reclaiming their cultural history; and for co-convening several conferences on the Escalon Man, the Philippine traditional scripts, the true site of the First Easter Mass in the country,” among others. The “various Surigao Declarations on these issues” are said to “attest to the assiduous search for various historical and cultural truths” led by Bauzon.
Bauzon graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History degree from SU in 1964 and was named Outstanding Sillimanian in the field of Education in 1989. He is one of the pillars of the SU Class of 1964 and actively supports the university through scholarships.
Silliman University (SU) alumnus and veteran sculptor-painter Francisco M. Verano, a retired professor of Fine Arts in the UP College of Fine Arts, also received the UP Chapter Phi Kappa Phi Distinguished Achievement Award in the Visual Arts.
Verano was recognized for the ingenuity and vision of his works, as well as for his years of “vibrant presence” in the Philippine art scene.
Verano is known for his sculptures made of unconventional and indigenous materials, watercolor and acrylic media paintings, and for merging two-dimensional forms with sculptures. According to the vMeme Contemporary Art Gallery website, his landscapes and still-life paintings garnered him awards from the Art Association of the Philippines and the Shell National Students Art Competition.
Verano finished his Elementary (1950) and High School (1954) at SU and donated some of his paintings to SU.
