Talk about Ideas with a Big Smile, Lots of Energy, and Twinkling Eyes; A Tribute to Sir Nes – Leader, Professor, and Mentor

To most of us, Professor Rañeses or Sir Nes as many fondly call him, is a Leader, a Professor, and a mentor. I would not elaborate on his impressive achievements – they are self-evident. Those interested in what he managed to contribute as a professional can easily see it on the Internet. Keywords would include Lean Six Sigma, Public Procurement, Institute for Small Scale Industries, Energy Engineering, and National Engineering Center.

I would like to talk more about how he thought and how he treated people.

Sir Nes and I wrote a book chapter together discussing our research findings on Kaizen practice in small-scale businesses in the Philippines. Whenever I saw him or heard his baritone voice, I was always half excited and half terrified. I always had to brace myself for a fast-paced cerebral discussion of our research, of his vision for the department, and for the University. He relished in thinking about ways to improve how things are done and how the University can become more relevant to the country’s development. He had a lot of ideas and he knew how to communicate them. Just like for many, he had more ideas than the time or energy that I had to listen.

He was demanding but he was always respectful and he worked equally hard, if not harder. Not once did he raise his voice on anyone. Never did I hear him talk bad about others. He sees the big picture and he knows how to influence people to think towards a vision. But he was not afraid to get his hands dirty.

During our research, he travelled a lot, even to remote areas of the country, to personally conduct interviews with our respondents. At the end of each interview, he was always enthusiastic to discuss what he found interesting. He talked about what it meant for the research but he always brought it back to the relevance in the big picture – how can our findings be used to help government be more effective in helping small business owners.

While we were doing this research, he was also the Program Leader and Lead Lecturer of two of the most successful Certification Programs at the National Engineering Center – Lean Six Sigma and the Public Procurement Program. He was also busy working for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on identifying that the Bente Pesos should be a coin and not a paper bill. For sure, he was working on many other things but I never heard him complain about how busy he was or how difficult things are going. He just kept pressing on and was always excited talking and working on his ideas.

During a trip to Washington D.C. with Sir Nes and his wife, I saw a different side of him. I saw a very loving and caring husband. I saw a person who takes so much delight in nature. There was a snow storm when we were in D.C.. Instead of sulking, Sir Nes and his wife convinced me to go out and walk around the block a bit. I saw childlike joy in Sir Nes and his wife as soon as we started walking on the snow.
During that trip, I also learned that Sir Nes enjoyed travelling a lot with his wife and their son.

I will always remember Sir Nes for his vision and for his persistence to make things happen. I will also remember that he loved and cared for his family while contributing significantly to society.

Sir Nes’ life will always inspire us. Hopefully, we can also talk about our ideas with a big smile, lots of energy, and twinkling eyes.