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After 35 years, beloved professor Butch Dalisay retires from UP

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ABS-CBN News

MANILA – Dr. Jose “Butch” Dalisay Jr. has retired after 35 years in the University of the Philippines, where he served as Literature and Creative Writing professor, department chair for English and Comparative Literature, and vice president for Public Affairs.UP president Danilo Concepcion hosted a retirement dinner for Dalisay at the Executive House, with the event attended by the beloved professor’s family, friends, and colleagues.“Keep the liberal spirit alive, maintain harmony between all branches of our university administration, and take care of the UP Institute of Creative Writing,” Dalisay was quoted as saying in an <a href="https://www.up.edu.ph/index.php/beloved-writer-and-professor-butch-dalisay-retires-after-35-years-of-service/">article</a> posted on the UP website.Prior to joining the academe, Dalisay spent 45 years in customer service, including 10 years at the National Economic Development Authority or NEDA.He has written close to 30 books, with six of them receiving the National Book Award from the Manila Critics Circle.Dalisay has also won 16 Palanca Awards for his works – which elevated him to the hall of fame in 2000 – as well as five Cultural Center of the Philippines awards, and Famas, Urian, Star, and Catholic Film awards and citations for his screenplays.In a <a href="https://penmanila.ph/2019/01/21/penman-no-337-a-perfect-ending/">blog post</a>, the professor looked back on his 35 years in the academe and urged his readers to fight for “a UP governed by merit than by patronage, and led by men and women of impeccable intelligence, ability, and most of all, integrity.”“Honor and excellence must be more than slogans to us but a way of life – honor even more so than excellence, which is easily found in a community of intellectually brilliant minds, but also easily compromised and corrupted by power,” he wrote.He continued: “I have often argued that the true heart of UP lies neither in the authoritarian Right nor the doctrinaire Left, but in the great liberal middle, which – despite all of its confusions, contradictions, vacillations, and weaknesses – most honestly represents the search for truth, reason, freedom, and justice in our society.”

Dr. Jose “Butch” Dalisay Jr. has retired after 35 years in the University of the Philippines, where he served as Literature and Creative Writing professor, department chair for English and Comparative Literature, and vice president for Public Affairs.

Dr. Jose “Butch” Dalisay Jr. has retired after 35 years in the University of the Philippines, where he served as Literature and Creative Writing professor, department chair for English and Comparative Literature, and vice president for Public Affairs.