L is for Letter to the Father of the University

An awardee of the "Father of the Year" in 1994, Dr Bhinyo Panijpan, is a distinguished figure at Mahidol University. He is the recipient of numerous other prestigious awards besides "Mahidol University Distinguished Invention Awardee" in 1998 and "Mahidol University Distinguished Research Awardee" in 1985, only to name a few of the many. 

Currently, he works as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry under the Faculty of Science at Mahidol University. A British educated doctorate has a wide range of experiences in legislative, research and teaching know-how. He had been visiting worldwide as a visiting professor from 1979 to 1987 in renowned universities of the U.K and the U.S.A, New Zealand, India and Japan. He has more than hundreds of research papers and not less than fifty publications in international journals. 

The all-rounder, Dr.Bhinyo Panijpan

This living genius who has a proven record in detecting errors in the textbooks that were used extensively globally for many years was invited to our first class as a keynote speaker to speak on the  “Trends in Science and Technology Education".

As a token of respect and appreciation, I wrote the following letter and forwarded it through our course director. This is how I felt and wrote:

August 18, 2014

                      

Dear Sir,

It was a privilege for me to have attended the first seminar class with you as our guest speaker. I did not realize how quickly the time has elapsed since I was engrossed in your captivating lecture. Our course coordinator Dr. Namkang Sriwattanarothai has not mistaken to have invited the right person to speak on the right theme: Trends in Science and Technology Education.

Your fascinating discourse has always reminded me of one special charisma you possessed: You spoke of who you were. You are genuinely a 21^st century educator. Be it physical or life science, chemistry or technology, arithmetic or social science for that matter, you seemed to have conquered the entire stage. If there is one word that can substitute your name, it would be an ‘All-rounder’ because I found the multiple intelligence of an American developmental psychologist Howard Gardner in single you.

Your words were simply magical and contained huge gravity in its meaning. In a short span of time within your circumference, I was made to draw a vivid skeleton of how a 21^st century teacher should look like. To be one, I agree with your words that we have to be an authentic learner driven with the intrinsic motivation. The clarity and eloquent interpretation during your profound lecture encouraged me to learn the things with clear understanding as you revealed to be one among many.

Sir, as I was passionately engulfed by your enthralling speech, I remembered the words of a famous Indian freedom fighter known by the name Mahatma Gandhi who have said: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Your words are etched deep inside the library of my heart. Besides professional advices, I would not forget to remember the importance of a social life you decorated. If I were to duplicate a few, you highlighted “People are more important than knowledge. So, don’t let the good works done by losing the friends”. Well stated. Socialization has often been victimized as the worst market of negligence in this contemporary busy world.

Eventually, even if I cannot mature to a kind of teacher you dreamt, I will not let my effort to cultivate that seeds of goodness in others before it shrink. I will consume myself to let others see the route to their destination.

Sincerely Yours,

Dumcho Wangdi

MSc. in Science and Technology Education

Institute for Innovative Learning

Mahidol University

“The more that you read, the more things that you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go” – Dr. Seuss