Dr. Laquian was Associate Director of Social Sciences under Ruth Zagorin in the first years of IDRC in the Pebb Building and later at 60 Queen.
He was born in Pampanga, Philippines, the son of a tailor. Following graduation with a Bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of the Philippines in 1959 he won a Fulbright grant to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning his doctorate in 1965.
Known as Prod to colleagues and friends, Dr. Laquian attracted widespread admiration for his community service and academic work. In retirement, Dr. Laquian became founding editor of Canadian Filipino Net, which is published by Maple Bamboo Network Society. He was also president of the society.
Colleagues remember…
Prod was one of the more senior technical people in the Social Sciences Division during my time in Ottawa, from 1975 to 1979. He was proud of his Filipino heritage, had a casual and friendly working style, and was always smiling. Prod was disciplined and technically strong in his field of economic growth in Asia. People relied on his judgement and advice. He was a great colleague to work with.
Elwood Pye
Prod was an impressive IDRC project leader, a warm personality, an eloquent speaker, and a great scholar. I worked with him during in 1975 and 76, when I first traveled to cover research on Low-Cost Housing, including Sites and Services, as well as Hawkers and Vendors. These were attempts to change government policies to ease the struggles and improve the lives of millions of rural-urban migrants in Asia and around the developing world.
Neill McKee
Dr. Laquian had left IDRC by the time I arrived in 1979, but the name Prod was current and I took it as a summation of IDRC’s mission. The phrase “Circuit Rider” was attached to Prod, capturing the travel of the first program staff out in the world, proving IDRC’s founding belief that there were researchers in the developing countries needing the support Canada could provide.
Chris Smart
Prod’s work is well documented in the IDRC archives and elsewhere:
https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/search?query=Laquian&spc.page=1&spc.rpp=100
https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/search?query=Hawkers%20and%20Vendors&spc.page=1&spc.rpp=100
https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/search?query=Sites%20and%20Services&spc.page=1&spc.rpp=100
https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/search?query=Prod%20Laquian&spc.page=1&spc.rpp=100
https://www.adb.org/contact/laquian-aprodicio
https://www.amazon.com/Books-Aprodicio-Laquian/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AAprodicio+A.+Laquian
Bulletin 73
July 2024