Meraih anak tangga tertinggi dalam jenjang karier akademik tentu menjadi asa bagi setiap akademisi. Tak terkecuali bagi sosok dengan senyum khas dan hangat yang tentu sudah sangat akrab dalam pengenalan kita semua, Ibu Ery Seda, Anggota Board of Trustees Frans Seda Foundation, yang juga merupakan seorang seorang dosen tetap Departemen Sosiologi pada Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik Universitas Indonesia (FISIP UI).

Belum lama ini, putri sulung alm. Frans Seda ini menerima kabar gembira. Sebagai seorang akademisi, Ibu Ery Seda berhasil meraih gelar Guru Besar dalam Bidang Studi Pembangunan. Sesuai dengan tradisi akademik, gelar Guru Besar tersebut dapat disandang oleh beliau setelah dikukuhkan dalam Upacara Pengukuhan Guru Besar pada 6 Desember 2023 lalu di Balai Sidang, Kampus Universitas Indonesia, Depok. Dalam upacara pengukuhan tersebut, Ibu Ery Seda membacakan Pidato Pengukuhan Guru Besar berjudul “Kemiskinan, Eksklusi Sosial, Social Well-Being: Perspektif Studi Pembangunan”.

Tentu saja pengukuhan Ibu Ery Seda sebagai Guru Besar juga merupakan kabar gembira bagi Frans Seda Foundation beserta segenap Frans Seda Foundation Fellows. Dengan raihan penting ini, sesuai sistem jenjang akademik Indonesia dan tradisi akademik di Indonesia, peraih gelar Ph.D. dalam bidang Development Studies dari University of Wisconsin at Madison, Amerika Serikat pada 2001 ini dapat menyandang gelar Profesor (Prof) di depan namanya. Suatu raihan prestasi yang tidak mudah untuk digapai dan membutuhkan konsistensi dalam ketiga aspek Tri Dharma Perguruan Tinggi, yakni pengajaran, penelitian dan penerbitan, serta pengabdian kepada masyarakat.

Sosiologi memang sudah menjadi pilihan yang ditekuni Ibu Ery Seda sedari awal. Ketika hendak memasuki jenjang pendidikan S1 dalam lingkup perguruan tinggi, figur bernama lengkap Francisia Saveria Sika Seda ini memang telah memilih sosiologi sebagai bidang studinya. Usai menamatkan studi S1 Sosiologi di FISIP UI pada 1987, beliau kemudian meraih gelar Master of Arts (MA) dalam bidang Asian Studies dari Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, Amerika Serikat pada 1989. Dengan bekal itulah beliau kemudian memfokuskan diri pada bidang spesialisasi Sosiologi Perubahan Ekonomi (Sosiologi Pembangunan), dan minat penelitian yang lain adalah Sosiologi Lingkungaan Hidup, Sosiologi Gender, Kemiskinan dan Eksklusi Sosial, serta Teori Sosiologi.

Ketekunan beliau dalam bidang keilmuan Sosiologi membuahkan berbagai publikasi Ilmiah antara lain, “Petroleum Paradox: The Politics of Oil and Gas,” dalam B.P. Resosudarmo, The Politics and Economics of Indonesia’s Natural Resources; ISEAS Publications, 2005; “Indonesia: the Struggle for Gender Quotas in the World’s Largest Muslim Society,” bersama Cecilia Bylesjo dalam D. Dahlerup, Women, Quotas and Politics Routledge, 2006; “The Triangular Relations of Society-State-Market Social Problems in Indonesian Society in the Context of Globalization,” dalam C.B. Wungaeo, et,al. eds., Globalization and Democracy in Southeast Asia: Challenges, Responses and Alternative Futures, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, serta beberapa jurnal ilmiah lainnya. Selain itu, beliau juga telah mempublikasikan beberapa buku, di antaranya yang paling baru adalah Gerak(an) Komunitas Beriman: Perspektif Sosiologi Agama dan Social Well-Being: A Comparative Perspetive yang diterbitkan oleh Penerbit Buku Kompas pada 2023. Sebelumnya buku-buku yang telah dipublikasikan oleh beliau antara lain adalah Dinamika Sumber Daya Alam, Negara Developmentalis, dan Masyarakat: Perspektif Sosiologi Perubahan Ekonomi, UI Press, 2014, Petroleum Paradox: Natural Resources and Development in Indonesia 1967-1997, UI Press, 2014, serta Perempuan: Perspektif Sosiologi Gender, UI Press, 2016.

Selain menjadi dosen pada Departemen Sosiologi FISIP UI, sosok yang pernah dipercaya sebagai Ketua Program Pascasarjana, Departemen Sosiologi, FISIP-UI pada 2005-2008, Ketua Dewan Redaksi Masyarakat Jurnal Sosiologi, Departemen Sosiologi, FISIP-UI pada 2008-2016, dan Ketua Departemen Sosiologi FISIP UI periode 2017-2020 ini juga menjadi dosen pengajar pada beberapa program studi lainnya, seperti Dosen Program Studi Ilmu Lingkungan UI (2012-2018), Dosen Kajian Gender UI (2012-sekarang), Dosen Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis UI (2008-sekarang), serta Dosen luar biasa pada Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara (2001-sekarang).

Menjadi seorang akademisi tidak membuat beliau terpaku pada dunia pendidikan tinggi semata. Mengikuti jejak ayah beliau, Ibu Ery Seda juga aktif di berbagai aktivitas sosial kemasyarakatan dan pelayanan Gereja. Beberapa partisipasi beliau yang tercatat antara lain sebagai Anggota Pengurus Yayasan Atma Jaya (2004-2006; 2018-sekarang), Anggota Pembina Yayasan Bina Swadaya (2008-sekarang), Anggota Pengurus Yayasan STF Driyarkara, Jakarta (2012-sekarang), Anggota Dewan Penyantun Fakultas Teologi Wedabhakti, Universitas Sanata Dharma Yogyakarta (2014-2018), Anggota Komisi Karya Misioner KWI (2016-2019), Anggota Tim Kajian Keilmuan DKP KAJ (2017-sekarang), serta sebagai Ketua Pembina Yayasan Bhumiksara sejak 2023 setelah sebelumnya juga dipercaya sebagai Wakil Ketua Pengurus Yayasan Bhumiksara (2016-2018), dan kemudian Ketua Pengurus Yayasan Bhumiksara (2018-2023).

Gelar Guru Besar yang diraih oleh beliau secara khusus disyukuri oleh beliau sebagai sebuah anugerah penting dalam hidup beliau. Anugerah ini ibarat menjadi mahkota dari rangkaian dedikasi beliau dalam bidang keilmuan Sosiologi. Meskipun demikian, dengan penuh kerendahan hati beliau berharap raihan gelar ini tidak membuat beliau menjadi berjarak dengan sesama kolega akademisi, para mahasiswa, dan juga masyarakat umum lainnya.

Proficiat Ibu Ery Seda!

Frans Seda Foundation dan segenap Frans Seda Foundation Fellows amat bangga atas raihan gelar Guru Besar Sosiologi ini!

Semoga raihan gelar ini dapat menjadi penyemangat dan inspirasi untuk bersama-sama dengan kami semua membangun jembatan dan menciptakan kesempatan bagi sesama untuk meneruskan semangat dan cita-cita alm. Frans Seda, inspirator kita semua!

Frans Seda Foundation’s Board of Trustees Member Is Being Honored Full Professor!

Reaching the highest honor in academia is certainly a dream for every teacher. It is certainly so to the warm figure who has a distinctive smile, Ms. Francisia Seda, or Ms. Ery Seda, Board of Trustees member, The Frans Seda Foundation. Ms. Ery Seda is a lecturer (Now Professor) in the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at The University of Indonesia.

After a long and rigorous process, Ms. Ery Seda, the eldest daughter of the late Frans Seda, finally received the good news from the Directorate General of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education. The Ministry has officially announced that Ms. Ery Seda has fulfilled all the requirements to earn the title Full Professor, with expertise in the field of Development Studies. In accordance with regulation and academic tradition, she can rightfully use the title, “Professor” after the official Professorship inauguration ceremony. The ceremony was held on 6th December 2023 at the University of Indonesia Convention Hall, Depok Campus. During the ceremony, Ms. Ery Seda gave an inaugural Professorship speech titled “Poverty, Social Exclusion, Social Well-Being: A Development Studies Perspective”.

Ms. Ery Seda, who received her Ph.D. in the field of Development Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States in 2001, is now allowed to use the title Professor (Prof) in front of her name. Ms. Seda’s journey in achieving the pinnacle of higher education was not an easy one, the journey requires consistency, dedication, and full commitment in the three aspects of what being defined as the Tri Dharma of Higher Education, which are teaching, research and publication, and community service.

Since undergraduate level, sociology has always captured Miss. Ery Seda’s interest. After completing her undergraduate degree in Sociology at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia in 1987, she then went to the United States to pursue her graduate study at Cornell University, Ithaca New York. Cornell University is a well-known institution that has strong Asian and Southeast Asia programs. At Cornell, Ms. Ery Seda received her Master of Arts (MA) degree in Asian Studies with the focus on Sociology of Economic Change (Sociology of Development). Her other research interests among others are Environmental Sociology, Gender Sociology, Poverty and Social Exclusion, and Sociological Theory.

Her perseverance and commitment to the field of Sociology is proven through a series of academic publications listed as follows, “Petroleum Paradox: The Politics of Oil and Gas” in B.P. Resosudarmo, The Politics and Economics of Indonesia’s Natural Resources; ISEAS Publications, 2005; “Indonesia: the Struggle for Gender Quotas in the World’s Largest Muslim Society” with Cecilia Bylesjo in D. Dahlerup, Women, Quotas and Politics Routledge, 2006; “The Triangular Relations of Society-State-Market Social Problems in Indonesian Society in the Context of Globalization” in C.B. Wungaeo, etal. eds., “Globalization and Democracy in Southeast Asia: Challenges, Responses and Alternative Futures”, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, as well as in several other academic journals.

In addition to that, she also has published several books, the most recent book publication is titled ”Move(ment) of the Faithful Community: Perspective on the Sociology of Religion” and “Social Well-Being: A Comparative Perspective” published by Kompas Book Publishers in 2023. Her other books among others are, “Dynamics of Natural Resources, Developmentalist States, and Society: Sociological Perspective of Economic Change” UI Press, 2014, ”Petroleum Paradox: Natural Resources and Development in Indonesia 1967-1997” UI Press, 2014, and “Women: Sociological Perspective Gender” UI Press, 2016.”

At the Department of Sociology, University of Indonesia, Ms. Ery Seda has served in various positions. From 2005 to 2008, Ms. Ery Seda served as the Chair of the Postgraduate Program.  She then continued to serve as the Head of Editorial Board for Sociology Journal “Masyarakat” (Society), published by The Department of Sociology, from 2008 to 2016. She would continue to become the Chair of the Department of Sociology, from 2017 to 2020. Ms. Seda also teaches in several other study programs, within University of Indonesia such as at the Environmental Science Study Program (2012-2018), Gender Studies (2012-present), and Faculty of Economics and Business (2008-present). Furthermore, amidst all her teaching commitment in her own campus, Ms. Ery Seda also teaches at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy from 2001 to present.

Being an academic does not make Ms. Ery Seda focused solely on the world of higher education. Following her late father’s footsteps, Ms. Ery Seda also served in various social and church-related activities. Some of her activities among others are: Executive Board Member of the Atma Jaya Foundation (2004-2006; 2018-present),Member of The Board of Trustees, Bina Swadaya Foundation (2008-present), Executive Board Member of Driyarkara School of Philosophy, Jakarta (2012-present), Member of Board of Trustees, Wedabhakti Faculty of Theology, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta (2014-2018), Member of Missionary Work Commission in the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference  (2016-2019), Member of the Scientific Study Team, for Pastoral Working Council, the Archdiocese of Jakarta (2017-present), and  Chair of the Board of Trustees, Bhumiksara Foundation since 2023. Ms. Ery Seda previously served as Bhumiksara Foundation Executive Board Deputy (2016-2018) until her position was elevated to the Chair of the Bhumiksara Foundation’s Executive Board, where she served from 2018 to 2023.

Ms. Ery Seda is thankful and feels blessed in becoming a full professor. She views her accomplishment as an acknowledgement of her hard work, dedication, and commitment as a scholar in the field of Sociology. She humbly hopes that this significant achievement will not distance her from fellow academic colleagues, students, and public alike.

Ms. Ery Seda, Congratulations! proficiat! The Frans Seda Foundation and all its Fellows are very proud of your achievement as The Professor of Sociology!