Announcing the Surin Pitsuwan Lecture in Thai Politics and Society

To commemorate the first anniversary of the passing of Dr. Surin Pitsuwan and to celebrate his memory and his many achievements as well as his generous support for the Thai Studies Program at the Harvard University Asia Center, we have renamed our Thailand@Harvard Lecture. It is henceforth titled The Surin Pitsuwan Lecture in Thai Politics and Society.

Dr. Surin’s many stellar accomplishments reflect a lifetime of public service as he endeavored to make Thailand, Southeast Asia, and our global community more just and prosperous, most notably as foreign minister of Thailand and secretary-general of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). We are particularly proud of the fact that Dr. Surin was a distinguished and beloved Harvard alumnus. Not only did Dr. Surin earn both a master’s degree and a doctoral degree at Harvard, but he remained a vibrant and dedicated member of Harvard’s extended family long after he graduated: Dr. Surin’s last public talk at Harvard was the 2017 Tsai Lecture at the Harvard Asia Center on the 50th anniversary of ASEAN’s creation.

Although Dr. Surin’s modesty would certainly have afforded him some embarrassment at such an honor, it is in the same spirit of humility that we offer this token of our enormous gratitude and appreciation for Dr. Surin’s central role in the genesis of the Thai Studies Program in Harvard University’s Asia Center. The Program would not have come into existence without his leadership, vision, and dedication, for all of which we remain eternally indebted.
 

Jay Rosengard, Chair

Thai Studies Program Committee, Harvard Asia Center
 

Michael Herzfeld, Director

Thai Studies Program, Harvard Asia Center