Dr Filomeno Aguilar awarded Grant Goodman Prize in Historical Studies

The Philippine Studies Group (PSG), a committee of the Association for Asian Studies’ Southeast Asia Council, awarded Dr Filomeno V "Jun" Aguilar Jr the Grant Goodman Prize in Philippine Historical Studies. Dr Aguilar received his award at a ceremony on 14 March 2025 in Colombus, OH in the USA.

Dr Aguilar obtained his BS Management Engineering degree from Ateneo de Manila University before completing his PhD in Sociology in Cornell University. He is the former Dean of the Dr Rosita G Leong School of Social Sciences, where he is still a Professor of History, and the current Assistant Vice President for Research, Creative Work, and Innovation at Ateneo.

The PSG cited Dr Aguilar for his "wide-ranging, rigorously researched, and cross disciplinary" scholarly work, as well as the various books and articles he has written. These have covered topics ranging from farmers to voters, from rice to sugar, from migration to ethnicity, from natural disasters to the COVID-19 pandemic, from art and education to social forestry, from ilustrado nationalist thought to the teaching of Rizal in high school, from economic history to church history. 

The PSG also cited Dr Aguilar's "transformative" stewardship of the journal Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints — now widely considered to be the top academic journal in the field, having rooted global Philippine Studies in the country itself.

Dr Aguilar was also cited for the work he has done in the various offices and positions he has held. These include being President of the International Association of Historians of Asia (IAHA) and chair of the Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC), where the PSG called him an "institution-builder and ambassador for historical scholarship on the Philippines."

In addition, his time as Chair of the Technical Panel on General Education of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) was also mentioned. Here, Dr Aguilar led the most sweeping change in the Philippine tertiary curriculum in decades. He facilitated the design of new interdisciplinary courses like “Understanding the Self,” “Readings in Philippine History,” and “The Contemporary World,” while organizing nationwide training programs for instructors hoping to teach these courses.

Finally, Dr Aguilar was also cited for his work nurturing and promoting the work of younger generations of Filipino students and scholars as well as that of Philippinists both in the country and around the world.

This awarding makes Dr Aguilar the thirteenth recipient of the Grant Goodman Prize in Philippine Historical Studies and only the fourth person based in the Philippines to receive the recognition. The three others are Resil Mojares (1996), Nicanor G Tiongson (2015), and Fr John Schumacher SJ (1994). Fr Schumacher was the first ever recipient of the award, which was received on his behalf by Fr Roberto Yap SJ, Ateneo de Manila University President.

"With this prize, I join an illustrious list of past recipients, but compared to them whatever contributions I have made to Philippine historical studies does not measure up," Dr Aguilar stated in his acceptance speech. 

Dr Aguilar stated in his speech that he would not have been able to do all that he has accomplished without the help of his colleagues, mentors, coworkers, and superiors.

"Whatever I have accomplished, I have done so because of the help of so many people: great mentors, wonderful colleagues, invaluable coworkers, and understanding superiors," he stated. "I thank God for them, for you, for the innumerable and diverse ways that you have helped me accomplish my scholarship, my journal work, and my administrative labor."

In addition, he thanked Ateneo for providing him with a "conducive and congenial setting for my work."

He then mentioned the growing community of scholars specializing in Philippine historical studies around the world.

"I find it amazing that you specialize on the Philippines. Why do you do that? How do you sustain a lifetime of scholarship on the Philippines—as Grant Goodman and other scholars have done?" 

He concluded his speech stating that there was not only more work that needed to be done in Philippine historical studies, but that there was an urgent need for it to transform Philippine society, especially at the basic education levels.

"Our scholarship must alter the wider societal discourse amid deep societal and cultural divides," he stated. "It isn’t easy. None of us write for school-aged children. Not many of us want to fashion ourselves into social media influencers, although a few have such engagements. It is worth thinking about this task because solid scholarship needs to percolate."

That said, he stated that he was hopeful for the current and future work of the younger generation of scholars in Philippine historical studies, and that their work would have an impact beyond the confines of the field.

Ateneo de Manila University congratulates Dr Filomeno V Aguilar, awardee of the Grant Goodman Prize in Historical Studies for 2025.