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Message from the Au President Emeritus & the Former Dean of ABAC Graduate School of Business |
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P. Martin Komolmas, f.s.g.,Ph.D.President Emeritus |
Today we are celebrating the 24th anniversary of the establishment of the Graduate School of Business of Assumption University. The School was actually launched on June 1, 1985, when I was the President of the University. It is an irony of fate that after nearly two decades I am again closely involved with the School’s operations. I can vividly recall the time in early 1980s when Assumption University was making tremendous progress and our undergraduate programs especially in Business Administration were proving very popular, with our graduates virtually riding the crest of the wave of our success and being recgnised as superbly qualified and competent folks. During this time I was grappling with a deep sense of unease, almost an obsession, about the inadequacy of courses taught and the pressing need for introducing advanced levels of education and awarding higher degrees. Around this De La Salle University strongly recommended opening graduate schools in view of the burgeoning business growth and the buoyant economic outlook in the region. This reinforced my convictions and spurred me on till I was able to wrap up my plans and preparations and the school became a reality. |
Conceptually motivated and naturally inclined to the pragmatic approach as we were, the school was initially planned to be research oriented and the first dean Dr. Pakorn Vichyanand took pains to stress this aspect of the study and it is no wonder that up to now he is employed as a Research Director for Financial and Capital Markets, The Macroeconomic Policy Program in the Applied Research Institute of Thailand. As the school developed and admissions escalated, I was very fortunate in being able to persuade some top economists in the country to assume the deanship and direction of the school. These pioneers are no other than Dr. Supachai Panichapakdi the former Director of the World Trade Organization and Dr. Thanong Bidaya, a former Minister of Finance who is currently holding TMBAM Advisor to the Board in Marketing and Public Relations. At the same time the Graduate School of Business cannot forget Dr. Lonnie Lasman and Asst. Prof. Dr. Vinai Viriyavidhayavongs, fsg., currently the Rector of Assumption College Samutprakan Provine who have contributed their valuable services to make the School what it is today.
These accomplished and illustrious academics and business leaders not only elevated the status of the school but left valuable legacies and examples of how to manage things, cope with situations and other modi operandi which enabled us to maintain our position as a unique and an outstanding school in the country.
I hope the next decade will be a decade of revitalization of our Graduate School of Business to be achieved through consolidation and rejuvenation of our faculty, and rethinking our strategies of ongoing improvement and other utilitarian innovations.