Remembering Ricky: Sociologist, Theatre Artist, and Teacher Extraordinaire

Professor Ricardo Gianchand Abad†

(1946-2023)

Sociologist, Theatre Artist, and Teacher Extraordinaire

Society and stage, scholarship and performance, statistics and art flow, blend, and kindle actions in the masterly works of Ricardo G Abad. His passing marks an occasion for remembrance of the extraordinary contributions he leaves in advancing art in the social sciences and the social sciences in art through research, scientific publications, performance, acting, directing theatre, writing creative works, teaching, social commentary, and outreach.

Sociology and theatre arts run deep, entwined, and unremitting from the foundational education of Professor Abad throughout his impressive professional and post-retirement work. Upon obtaining his AB Sociology degree in 1966 with a Cum Laude and Gold Medal for Excellence in Sociology at Ateneo de Manila, he had to make a hard choice–whether to pursue further training in sociology or theatre. One came from mentor and future National Artist (1997) Rolando Tinio – a scholarship offer for theatre at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The other veered towards graduate studies, with sociologist-mentor Fr John Doherty, SJ encouraging him to take a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship at Fordham University in New York. The decision: sociology at Fordham; but, he never forgot his love for theatre, which would later loom large in his storied career.

During the period of his studies, Dr Abad got engaged to Elizabeth Uy Eviota, who was studying sociology, feminism, and Marxism at the New School in New York; she later obtained her PhD in sociology at Rutgers University, New Jersey. They were married on 26^th December 1974, after which they returned to the Philippines in 1975. With a brand-new PhD in sociology, Dr Abad joined Ateneo’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology (DSA) and served as a Research Associate at the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC). Starting with the rank of Assistant Professor, Dr Abad, was promoted not long after to Associate Professor and appointed DSA chair (1979-1987, 2014-2017), while simultaneously serving as IPC director (1978).  He founded the Fine Arts Program and served as its founding director (2000-2003; and later acting director from 2011-2012). Under his leadership, the Program later transitioned into the Department of Fine Arts.

As a performance artist, Dr Abad infused complex academic thought with a refreshing burst of creative energy. Cohort after cohort, his students offer inspiring testimonies about how they did not simply learn but live as eyewitnesses on how he deftly combined science and theatre art, transforming cold demographic records into glowing figures in the most performative sense. The numbers dance and bell curves undulate as he boogies and struts, hips-swaying, along every skewed direction the statistics would turn. His teaching skills and work with students earned him recognition as an Outstanding Lay Teacher and Outstanding Moderator.  Society-at-large took its turn in recognizing his extraordinary teaching achievement with a Metrobank Award for Outstanding Teacher.

His research highlighting the quantitative aspects of sociology was as impressive as his innovative pedagogies. Dr Abad published pioneering Philippine studies on local and international migration, population, poverty, social stratification, inequality, social capital, welfare, education as human capital, informal economy, religiosity, citizen participation, popular culture, assessments of sociology, Asian globalization, and more. Underlying his scholarship was the application of Filipino perspectives in the development of social theory. In recent years, he turned his attention to creative ventures with his home theatre company, the Tanghalang Ateneo, inspiring a rising tide of students and reinforcing scholarship in the arts.

Sociology in the arts and arts in sociology are evident in theatrical productions which he wrote, directed, and even joined as an actor. His creative genius appeared in integrating sociological concepts into creative works of imagination and reimagination of Shakespeare in Asian settings. Colonization and resistance emerged in the Pagpapaamo sa Maldita (2002), a decolonized adaptation of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. His Shakespearean decolonial reinventions continued with the production of Sintang Dalisay (2012), which readapts Romeo and Juliet’s star-crossed love affair in the context of Sama Bajau culture, kindred networks, music, dance, and performative art. The list of theatrical works decolonizing Shakespeare resonates with his reappropriation of The Merchant of Venice (Ang Negosyante ng Venicia, 1999), A Midsummer’s Night Dream (Pangarap sa Gabi ng Gitnang Tag-araw, 1990), and Richard III (RD3RD, 2018). Following the pandemic lockdowns, he produced Azul: Ang Sirena ng Sigwa (Azul: the Mermaid of the Storm, 2021), a play on resource conflicts, globality. and climate migration. The tally of his scientific and artistic works run even longer, with themes that inspire and move.

Over the years, Professor Abad has not only trained generations of students but also marshaled support for the training of their mentors.  He was instrumental in identifying strategies for nurturing new generations of social scientists. This was apparent in his reviewing the commentaries of young researchers marking 50 years of research at the IPC. Professor Abad underscored the critical task of creating a collegial research environment, enhancing the capacity to listen and learn, and imbuing lifelong commitment to values generated in the research process. His commitment to pedagogy and service knew no bounds. Children and youth deprived of their liberty in prison blossomed as he brought a dynamic theatre into their constraining worlds.

Social scientists widely acknowledged Dr Abad’s expertise and commitment to serving others. The Population Center Foundation invited him to be its consultant. So too did Social Weather Stations, which was a major source of his data in comparing Philippine demographic trends with those in other countries. The Philippine Social Science Council elected Dr Abad to serve on its Board from 1979-1985 and authorized him to represent the discipline of sociology from 1980-1981. The Philippine Sociological Society elected him President in 1981 and Editor of the Philippine Sociological Review from 1981-1991. Multisectoral explorations in Asian countries like India and Malaysia gained support through his Asian Public Intellectual fellowship.

Dr Abad’s ability to link science and the arts reached its height while serving as Artistic Director of the Areté (2017-2023), Ateneo de Manila’s creative and innovation hub. Working with Yael Buencamino, he designed Risk to Resilience Journey, an artistic exhibition of an action research project generated by Coastal Cities at Risk in the Philippines: Investing in Climate and Disaster Resilience (CCARPH). That collaboration led to a 12-minute video, Risk and Resilience in the City (2023), with D Cortezano producing. The video represented the creative narration of five years of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary scientific research findings and public actions initiated by the physical and social scientists working with CCARPH.

Given his outstanding achievements in research, teaching, and leadership in sociology and the arts, Dr Abad earned the rank of full professor as early as 1985. That designation enabled him to engage in further cutting-edge artistic and scholarly ventures. A Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Professorial Chair awarded in 2004-2005 enabled him to expand his creative work while the Frank Lynch Professorial Chair in 2006 further enriched his sociological research credentials. In 2017, Ateneo de Manila recognized his extraordinary achievements in both the fields of sociology and fine arts with the title, Professor Emeritus.

If there is anything Ricardo G Abad’s life illustrates, it is that the humanities and social sciences can come together in a holistic framework, meaningfully interwoven.

He did sociology with a critical lens on the structures of power and wielded the power of art at authorities who curtailed, dulled, and oppressed. He once explained to political science colleagues the role of sociologists in society. Sociologists regularly debunk presuppositions by “looking behind conventions of power and questioning official definitions of political reality.” His commitment to social justice in dual guise emerged in his insistence that “theatre is not just an art. It is a weapon of change. And the better the students become, the more effective they will be in liberating people (including themselves) from oppressive systems, intellectual rigidity, and moral backwardness.”

We grieve the loss of Professor Ricardo G Abad, but we also find consolation in treasuring his legacy as sociologist, artist, and teacher extraordinaire.

Ateneo de Manila University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Institute of Philippine Culture School of Social Sciences

1^st January 2024