Universitas Gadjah Mada was once again grieving. Two of its best academicians, Prof. Dr. R.M. Soedarsono and Prof. Kamsul Abraha, Ph.D., passed away. Prof. Dr. RM. Soedarsono, Faculty of Cultural Sciences professor, passed away on Thursday (16/10) at Panti Rapih Hospital, Yogyakarta, and Prof. Kamsul Abraha, Ph.D, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences professor, on Wednesday (17/10) at Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta.
Both were buried on Wednesday (17/10) with Prof. Soedarsono at UGM’s cemetery compound in Sawitsari and Prof. Kamsul Abraha at Kalangan, Pandean, Umbulharjo, Yogyakarta. Before the burial, both were laid at Balairung UGM to receive last respect from UGM academic community.
Prof. Drs. Koentjoro, MBsc.,Ph.D, Chair of UGM Board of Professor, representing UGM extended condolences over the passing. He said both had contributed their expertise to UGM, society, and the state.
Prof. Dr. RM. Soedarsono during his life explored culture, particularly performance arts. He had produced many works of arts at UGM and once he even held the position of Rector of Yogyakarta Institute of Arts.
“Prof. Soedarsono’s strategic thinking on performance arts had been put into writings in his professorship remarks at UGM in 1985 titled Role of Culture in the History of Man, Continuity and Change," said Koentjoro.
Prof. Soedarsono was productive in writing, sharing knowledge through the many books and articles he wrote on performing arts, Indonesian dances, wayang, and other traditional arts.
Meanwhile, Prof. Kamsul Abraha according to Prof. Koentjoro was a role model for UGM academic community.
Prof. Kamsul Abraha was a professor in physics, being inaugurated as professor at Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences on 3 November 2015 and delivering inaugural remarks titled R&D of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) Based Optic Biosensor and Applications.
“In the remarks, he said that despite the much use of biosensor, but it still needs to be developed for easy use in the areas of environment, food security, and medical diagnosis," said Koentjoro.
Prof. Kamsul Abraha had a track record well recognised by the wider public. People may see in Google scholar his long list of publications which showed his productivity.
“Prof. Kamsul had once been entrusted to be the promoter of Nobel Laureate, Sheldon Lee Glashow, to earn honoris causa doctoral degree from UGM," he said.