Alumni Update May 17 – 23, 2021
Boston-based alumna moderates Stanford speakers series
Outstanding Sillimanian Awardee (OSA), Prof. Priscilla Lasmarias Kelso (AB/English, 1961, magna cum laude), was handpicked by Stanford University, her graduate school alma mater, to moderate a Zoom panel last May 8, 2021 for Asian American alumni and students. The topic discussed was on “The Stories That Shape Our Lives” and the power of stories over our lives and our identities.
Prof. Priscilla Lasmarias Kelso
Two of the speakers were Dr. Dien Ho, philosopher and medical ethicist in Boston; and Atty. Cecillia Wang, a civil rights attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Woven into the narratives was the theme of trauma and resilience in the generations of Asian Americans in America.
Prof. Lasmarias Kelso taught at Silliman’s English Department for 5 years after her graduate studies at Stanford. She and her husband, Rev. Bart Kelso, have returned to Silliman several times, and in 2012, they served as volunteer faculty after retirement. Rev. Kelso also shared his gift of preaching with Silliman University Church, a giving-back gesture that the Kelsos advocate.
Prof. Kelso received her OSA in the field of Education in 2004. Their daughter, Rachel Maria, works with global philanthropy. The Kelsos are active members of the Silliman Association of New England (SANE), the alumni chapter hosting Tipon on July 7 – 10, 2022 in Boston.
