Source: http://socanth.tu.ac.th/news/honor-shield_60/
2017 Merit Award, Honorary Award
On the commemoration of the 83rd year since the establishment of Thammasat University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pongsawat Sawaddipong has been a long-time lecturer at Thammasat University. He was hired as a permanent lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Faculty of Social Administration in 1969 and, by governmental mandate, his retirement was due in 2004 but then extended for another 5 years. He officially retired from the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology in 2009, marking 40 years of working for Thammasat University. Despite his official retirement, he continues to work as a special lecturer at the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology until now. It has been a total of 48 years.
While working as a lecturer at Thammasat University, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pongsawat Sawaddipong made a tremendous contribution to the university both academically and administratively. His achievements in the field of Social Sciences were outstanding, consistently bringing significant fame and benefits to Thammasat University.
Academically, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pongsawat Sawaddipong has been highly regarded for lectures on Social Order Organization and Psychological Sociology. The current lecturers in the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, who are now responsible for these subjects, are themselves the products of his teaching. It can be said that Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pongsawat Sawaddipong was the founding father of those subjects, which are now core subjects in the Faculty. He also published important academic textbooks: “Social Order Organization: Fundamental Concepts of Sociology,” “Emile Durkheim and Sociology,” and the “Logic of Scientific Study in Sociology” (all three books are published by Thammasat University Press.) Many of his other articles continue to be used in lectures at Thammasat University and at other universities. These academic achievements have brought prodigious recognition to the University.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pongsawat Sawaddiwat also excelled in the Faculty and University administration. From 1977 – 1987, he held the position of Vice Rector for Academic Affairs for Thammasat University, he was appointed several times as Deputy Dean of the Graduate Program, and Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology.
Among national academic circles in Social Sciences, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pongsawat Sawaddiwat was also exceptional. He served three terms in the Committee of Bangkok Cultural Research at the National Cultural Office, Ministry of Education. He was in the committee for producing a Sociological Dictionary by the Office of Royal Society, the committee for creating a Demographic Dictionary by the Office of Royal Society, and served four terms (four years each term) in the Committee of the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT). At present, he serves as an Academic Advisory Person in the Economics and Social Department for the Committee of the National Research Council of Thailand.
Albeit in official retirement, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pongsawat Sawaddiwat still consistently works as a special lecturer in the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology. He is responsible for teaching core subjects for the graduate program in Sociology and Social Research: Sociological Theories, Qualitative Research Subjects and Psychological Sociology. During the second semester of 2016, he taught SO. 455 — The Analysis of Social Issues in Sociology — for the undergraduate degree, Social Research Program.
