Serafin Quiason Jr.
Seraﬁn D. Quiason, Jr. (June 15, 1930 – August 13, 2016) was a Filipino scholar and historian. He was the former director National Library of the Philippines and Chairman of the National Historical Institute in the Philippines. He is one of the 1965 TOYM (Ten Outstanding Young Men) Awardees for History. Early life and education. Quiason was born on June 15, 1930. His brother, Camilo Quiason, would eventually become Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.He married Sonia Narvas, a Professor of Food Microbiology at the University of the Philippines and has a daughter Sonia(Mita), an Information Technology  Specialist. He graduated "cum laude" with a degree in history at the University of the Philippines in 1952. There, he was a member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi. Quiason was a recipient of the Fulbright-Smith–Mundt Scholarship, under which he finished his MA in Far East history and PhD in history at the University of Pennsylvania in 1954 and 1962, respectively. He was elected into the Pi Gamma Mu International Social Science Society and the Phi Alpha Theta International Historical Society. Career. From 1965 to 1970, Quiason was an associate professor of history in the Department of History of  the College of Arts and Sciences in the University of the Philippines Diliman. Later on he became assistant chairman. He also became a visiting lecturer in the University of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur in 1996. From 1971 to 1975, he served as Secretary-General of the Southeast Asian Regional Branch of the International Council of Archives (SARBICA). He was also an elected member of the Rome-based Advisory Council of the International Center of the Study of the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). He is a former member of the Ad-Hoc Numismatic Committee of the Central Bank  of the Philippines, the UNESCO Advisory Committee for the Study of Malay and Southeast Asian Cultures in 1978, a former Trustee of the Museo ng Malacanan Foundation from 1986 to 1990, a member of the Silk Road Expedition Across Central Asia which was sponsored by UNESCO Paris in 1990, a member of the National Centennial Commission from 1993- 1998, a former regent of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila from January–June 1998, a Project Director of the Museo ng Maynila in 1997-1998 and a Consultant to the Lopez Museum & Library. He is also instrumental in the construction and  completion of the Museum of Philippine History and National Historical Building at Rizal Park. Awards and legacy. Quiason was awarded the 1965 TOYM (The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines) Award for History. On December 30, 1984, he was given the honorary rank of Commander for the Knights of Rizal. He was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award by University of the Philippines Alumni Association in June 2009, the Outstanding Citizen of Quezon City in November 2009, and Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in 2015. In 2018, the National Historical Commission Resource Center was  named in his honor. Death. Quiason passed away on August 13, 2016 in Plainsboro, New Jersey. He was 86.