The end of the academic year is a time of celebration and my special time to express deep appreciation to the UH Hilo ‘ohana. Thanks to each of you for always striving to achieve the best teaching and learning environment for our students.

At this time of year, we honor campus colleagues and local community members for exemplary service and dedication to our university. Please join me in congratulating the following people for their commendable achievements.

UH HILO AWARDS

Each year we recognize outstanding members of our university `ohana through several different achievement awards, some of which rotate in alternate years. This year we honor four individuals for their excellent service.

Amber Lehua Botz, who just graduated with a bachelor of arts in sociology, is the recipient of the Student Employee of the Year Award. She proved herself an invaluable part of our university, and is respected and admired greatly by her peers and supervisors. Her hallmarks are an excellent attitude, cheerfulness, and an exceptional degree of initiative. The award includes a $2,000 scholarship that Amber is planning to put toward the UH Hilo Teacher Education Program, which she begins this fall.

Marilyn Brown, assistant professor of sociology, is this year’s recipient of the Excellence in Service Award for her outstanding service and valuable contributions to our university. Marilyn’s tireless dedication to teaching, research, and service enriches our university and the entire island community. Some of her many contributions include serving on the UH Hilo Congress and various committees, mentoring sociology students, placing interns at the Women’s Center, and working in partnership with local social service agencies.

Dean Miyose, groundskeeper, is the recipient of the Excellence in Building and Ground Maintenance Award for his exceptional contributions to beautifying the campus. Dean started his career at UH Hilo as an emergency hire in 1987 and worked his way up the ladder to his current position as head of a highly productive grounds keeping crew. He is known for his excellent organizational and motivational skills. His hard work and dedication to the job help make UH Hilo a beautiful residential campus in which to live, work, and study.

Gail Makuakane-Lundin, director of the Kipuka Native Hawaiian Student Center, is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for Improving Student Life for her outstanding contributions to student life beyond the boundaries of her official responsibilities. Gail, a UH Hilo alumna, has served in many capacities at the university including as director of the Hawaiian Leadership Development Program. In all her work, she is greatly admired and respected for her dedication to the welfare of students and colleagues. Gail is a great asset to the university and we anticipate with pride her upcoming completion of the doctoral program in Educational Leadership at the University of Southern California.

Congratulations to all our award recipients. It is a distinct honor to be nominated and selected by your colleagues for these awards, and an honor well deserved!

I’d like to thank the selection committee members for their time and contribution. I would also like to recognize and thank the chairs of the award committees. Thank you to Norman Stahl for chairing the Student Employee of the Year Award. Thank you to Michele Ebersole and Howard Van Trease who co-chaired the UH Hilo Awards Committee, together with members Kerwin Iwamoto, Jackie Johnson, and Alton Okinaka.

SERVICE AWARDS

We also honor and salute faculty and staff for their years of service at the university.

Those who have served 10 years:
• Raymond Busniewski, information technology specialist
• Thomas Curtis, associate professor of sociology
• Phillip Taylor, professor of political science
• Regina Titunik, associate professor of political science
• Sunny Walker, information technology specialist and webmaster
• Jennifer Wheat, associate professor of English

Those who have served 20 years:
• Susan Brown, professor of psychology
• Lois Fujiyoshi, director of fiscal affairs and budget
• Gale Haruki, information technology specialist
• Steve Hora, vice chancellor for academic affairs
• Marcel Tsang, professor of agricultural engineering
• Jenny Wakida, secretary to the university librarian

The “survivors” of 30 years of service:
• Cornelia Anguay, director of Upward Bound
• Jon Cauley, professor of economics
• John Cheng, professor of philosophy
• Barry Curtis, professor of philosophy
• Audrey Furukawa, executive assistant to the chancellor
• Carolyn Lesnett, director of student health services
• William “Pila”? Wilson, professor of Hawaiian studies

And reaching the grand milestone of 40 years of service:
• Paul Dixon, professor of psychology

RETIREMENT AWARDS

We also honor this year’s retirees with our thanks and best wishes.

I would like to clarify that this list covers the period from April 2005 to March 2006, so anyone who retires after March 31 will be recognized next year.

This year we honor the following.

Pai-Ho “Beata” Cheng began her library career at UH Hilo in 1993 in Circulation. She worked her way up at the university’s Edwin H Mookini Library and retired from Technical Services where she was responsible for processing all the DVD’s in the library.

Jack Fujii started his career at UH Hilo in 1976 as a professor of entomology. He then served 17 years as dean of the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management, and later served as interim dean of the college. Under Jack’s leadership, the college grew from being very small into one offering seven areas of specialization. The university farm at Pana`ewa grew from a small plot of overgrown land into a thriving hands-on learning laboratory. The programs Jack championed during his tenure have trained the leaders of our local agriculture industry.

Margaret Haig served as dean of the College of Continuing Education and Community Service from 2001 to August of last year. She came to us after serving as dean of student services at Honolulu Community College for three years. Margaret was known for her energy and ideas. She was tireless and her enthusiasm rubbed off on everyone. Although retired from UH Hilo, she now serves as vice chancellor for academics at California’s Peralta Community College District, a four-college district that includes campuses in Alameda, Oakland, and Berkeley.

Marlene Hapai served 18 years at UH Hilo. She was a professor, researcher, teacher trainer, and division and department head. She then became associate dean for academic and student affairs at UH Ma?noa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. In 2004, Marlene returned to UH Hilo as director of the `Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai`i. Marlene is a local girl, born and raised on the Big Island, and dedicated to the local community. She started in education as a high school science teacher in Kohala and Hilo, and worked her way up to higher education. And now, as we celebrate her retirement, we also celebrate her recent appointment as a UH regent.

Dianne Higgins retired in June 2005. She worked as the coordinator of advising and as the director of the Advising Center for five years. Advising is central in the education and retention of our students, and Dianne’s greatest contribution to the university was her leadership of the Advising Center. She was dedicated to working with our faculty to provide the best advising possible for our students.

Coreen Ishimaru began her career at UH Hilo in 1974 in the technical services unit of the library and steadily worked her way up the ladder of success. She retired 31 years later in 2005 as the head of technical services. Coreen was greatly respected for her lead-by-example management style and her positive can-do attitude.

Judy Sumera worked in the UH Hilo financial aid office from 1990 until the end of last year. She helped thousands of students with the financial aid process. Judy also supervised and mentored hundreds of student workers, and under her care, they were always hard working and very productive. Her boss, Jeff Scofield, says she also did a great job of looking after the director.

Nancy Toribio retired in December 2005 after serving 18 years at various posts. Most recently, she served as secretary for the Advising Center where she helped numerous students be successful during their undergraduate years.

Thank you to each retiree for the many contributions to our university. We are envious of your retirement, and wish you the very, very best. Good luck and take care!

UNIVERSITY CONGRESS

I’d like to recognize and give special thanks to Jene Michaud, chair of University Congress, and also the members of University Congress, all of whom work very hard to establish and clarify university process and procedures. Thank you all for your time and dedication to a difficult undertaking. Your work is very much appreciated.

CHANCELLOR’S ADVISORY BOARD

Special thanks to the Chancellor’s Advisory Board for their enthusiastic, engaging, and tireless support of the university.

• Wayne Y. Hamano
• Elizabeth L. Buyers
• Russell Chin
• Robert M. Fujimoto
• Alec D. Keith
• Robert Kihune
• Beatrice Lau
• Roy K. Nakamoto
• S. Russell Oda
• Herbert M. Richards, Jr.
• Gladys Sonomura
• Barry K. Taniguchi
• John S. Tolmie, Jr.
• John K. Tsui
• Sheila Watumull
• Jim Wilson
• Vern Yamanaka

SPECIAL TRIBUTE: E ola ka `olelo Hawai`i (the Hawaiian language shall live)

As some of you may know, UH Hilo’s Kipuka Native Hawaiian Student Center offered a beginning Hawaiian language class taught by a senior Hawaiian studies major Hoku or Kumu Hoku. At his request and recommendation, I would like to recognize the following faculty, staff, and administrators for their contributions to maintaining Hawaiian as a living language.

• Harald Bafkhoff
• Leon Hallacher
• Randy Hirokawa
• Lori-Ann Hu
• Becky Ostertag
• Lisa Parr
• Ann Saxton
• Elizabeth Stacy
• Misaki Takabayashi

TRIBUTE TO VOLUNTEERS

Our university is very fortunate to have volunteers to help us take care of our campus landscaping, provide us with beautiful flower arrangements, and perform other services. The entire UH Hilo community is grateful for these contributions. Thank you to the following individuals for their generosity of time and expertise.

• Ramon Abong
• Robert Koga
• Harue Kaneshiro
• Caroline Madrid
• George Matsubara
• Philomena Rabago
• Sueno Saruwatari
• Jean Funai
• Junko Nowaki
• Lynn Shimazu
• Chiyono Kinoshita

CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

The members of our local chambers of commerce are some of UH Hilo’s greatest champions. I want to thank them for sharing in the vision of strong partnerships between the university and the local business community. Special thanks to the presidents of our local chambers.

• Richard Nelson, Hawai`i Island Chamber of Commerce
• Cheryl Ramos, Hawai`i Island Portuguese Chamber of Commerce
• Dwayne Mukai, Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawai`i

MAHALO TO THE MAYOR

We were pleased to have Mayor Harry Kim join us for our recent year-end celebration and award ceremonies. We greatly appreciate the mayor’s support of and partnership with UH Hilo. We value working together with him to meet the needs of Hilo and our island. Mahalo, Harry.

MAHALO TO BIG ISLAND DELEGATION AND UHH ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM

I’d like to thank the Big Island delegation for their support this past legislative session. It was a challenging session and without the support of our delegation we would not have done as well as we did.

I’d also like to express special thanks to the UH Hilo administrative team for working very, very hard. It was a tough session, very demanding and difficult. I want to thank all of you who helped with preparation, testimony, and other activities, for your tireless support of our cause. I feel fortunate that we have a very strong administrative team. Although we did not get everything we requested, we did very well. More details on this year’s legislative session will be forthcoming soon.

CONGRATULATIONS AND MAHALO TO ALL!

Yes, great things happen when everyone — faculty, staff, students and the community — work together to move our university forward. Mahalo to everyone.

I wish you a wonderful summer season.

Aloha,

Rose Tseng