Donation is the largest anonymous gift to UH-Hilo in the school’s history

Big Island Video reports on $1.5 million donation:

Video by Tim O Bryan

During the recent commencement ceremony for graduates at the University of Hawaii-Hilo, Chancellor Rose Tseng and University Relations Director Gerald De Mello took a few moments to discuss an anonymous ‘fairy godmother’ donation of $1.5 million, delivered by mail on April 1.

The donation is the largest anonymous gift to UH-Hilo in the school’s history. Reports say the pledge appears to be from the same person who has given, at last count, $93 million to at least 19 universities across the country. UH-Hilo and the other schools all happen have one thing in common: they are headed by women.

The University of Hawaii-Hilo released the following statement about the donation:

Current and future students at the University of Hawaii at Hilo stand to benefit from a recent $1.5 million gift from an anonymous donor, pending acceptance of the gift by the University of Hawaii Board of Regents at its meeting May 29. At the donor’s request, $1 million has been designated for financial assistance and scholarships to all eligible students. An additional $500,000 has been designated for unrestricted purposes, enabling the university to advance its goals.

UH Hilo will use this groundbreaking gift to recruit and retain the students from Hawai‘i and elsewhere, to remove barriers to student access and achievement, and to enhance programs and services that support student success.

Additionally, UH Hilo plans to leverage the impact of this donation through a matching gift program. Details of a matching gift opportunity will be announced shortly.

“It is our belief that this incredibly generous gift will inspire others in our community to join the Centennial Campaign effort and support UH Hilo priorities,” commented Chancellor Rose Tseng. “This gift could not have come at a more opportune time as our students and their families face profound economic challenges and myriad barriers to higher education.”

UH Hilo currently has the highest percentage of students receiving financial aid of any of the ten University of Hawaii campuses.

“Alumni, faculty, corporations and foundations have long understood that the ability of public universities to achieve their mission is strengthened when state support is augmented by private funds,” said Donna Vuchinich, President, University of Hawaii Foundation. “Through leveraging this generous gift, students today and in the future, can receive student aid and get the education they need to fulfill their personal potential.”

To date UH Hilo has raised over $14 million toward a $15 million goal for the Centennial Campaign, a highly inclusive development effort underway in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of public higher education in Hawaii.

Link

At last count, $93 million has been given to at least 19 universities across the country, all headed by women, according to news reports.

Craig Gima at the Honolulu Star Bulletin reports on the $1.5 million gift to UH Hilo:

The donation, the largest anonymous gift to UH-Hilo in the school’s history, appears to be from the same person The New York Times called “a fairy godmother.” She, or he, has given, at last count, $93 million to at least 19 universities across the country, according to news reports.

Like the other schools that received checks, UH-Hilo is headed by a woman — Chancellor Rose Tseng.

“It means we’re doing good. We’re very proud to be the one that’s picked,” Tseng said. “They know what we do. They know we must be making some difference in students’ lives and the community.”

Two checks arrived on April 1, the same day many of the other universities received the money, and the money was directed to similar purposes.

One check, for $1 million, is earmarked for scholarships at UH-Hilo. The other check, for $500,000, can be spent at the university’s discretion.

What makes the gifts really unusual is the secrecy surrounding the donor, whose identity is not even known to the university.

The checks, which have cleared, came from a bank in Arizona which is protecting the giver’s identity.

The UH Foundation, in an e-mail, declined to speculate about the source of the donation.

“We have no way of knowing if this gift to UH-Hilo is related to the others, but like other universities across the country, we have been following these reports with a great deal of interest,” the foundation wrote.

Tseng, who knows many of the other chancellors who received funds, said the letter from the donor is similar to the others.

She said the benefit of the gift is more important than who is giving the money.

“We have to honor the intent (of the donor),” she said. “We want to transform students’ lives. We want to transform the community.”

Link to full report at The Honolulu Star Bulletin.

“As an institution committed to access and opportunity, UH Hilo is proud to be recognized with this wonderful vote of confidence in our ability to transform the lives of our students. UH Hilo serves as an economic engine for our state and region, and we will repay this investment many times over as our students graduate and take their place in the professional workforce.” Rose Tseng, Chancellor UH Hilo

Current and future students at the University of Hawaii at Hilo stand to benefit from a recent $1.5 million gift from an anonymous donor, pending acceptance of the gift by the University of Hawaii Board of Regents at its meeting May 29. At the donor’s request, $1 million has been designated for financial assistance and scholarships to all eligible students. An additional $500,000 has been designated for unrestricted purposes, enabling the university to advance its goals.

UH Hilo will use this groundbreaking gift to recruit and retain the students from Hawaii and elsewhere, to remove barriers to student access and achievement, and to enhance programs and services that support student success.

Additionally, UH Hilo plans to leverage the impact of this donation through a matching gift program. Details of a matching gift opportunity will be announced shortly. “It is our belief that this incredibly generous gift will inspire others in our community to join the Centennial Campaign effort and support UH Hilo priorities,” commented Chancellor Rose Tseng. “This gift could not have come at a more opportune time as our students and their families face profound economic challenges and myriad barriers to higher education.” UH Hilo currently has the highest percentage of students receiving financial aid of any of the ten University of Hawaii campuses.

“Alumni, faculty, corporations and foundations have long understood that the ability of public universities to achieve their mission is strengthened when state support is augmented by private funds,” said Donna Vuchinich, President, University of Hawaii Foundation. “Through leveraging this generous gift, students today and in the future, can receive student aid and get the education they need to fulfill their personal potential.”

To date UH Hilo has raised over $14 million toward a $15 million goal for the Centennial Campaign, a highly inclusive development effort underway in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of public higher education in Hawaii.

Chancellor Tseng, at center in red, at US-China Energy Conference held at UH Hilo

From Big Island Video News:

March 19, 2009 – Hilo, Hawaii
VIDEO: David Corrigan

An international meeting of the world’s top two energy consuming countries took place on the Big Island Wednesday, as the Committee on U.S. – China Cooperation on Electricity from Renewables convened in Hilo.

The University of Hawaii at Hilo was the host for the joint U.S.-China delegation, which was comprised of leading scientists and experts on renewable energy from the National Academies of Science and Engineering in both countries.

According to a university press release, the committee met at UH Hilo to learn more about how the Big Island’s renewable energy strategies, initiatives and research can strengthen the economic foundation of the community.

Chancellor Rose Tseng, who greeted the Chinese delegates in their own language, took a moment to do a video interview about the important meeting.

Joining the two countries’ leading renewable energy researchers were representatives of Mayor Billy Kenoi, Hawaii Electric Light Company, Kanoelehua Industrial Area Association and local agriculture businesses.

A UH-Hilo press release notes that the U.S. and China rank as the world’s top two energy consumers, but remain largely reliant on fossil fuels.

The delegation is also visiting other parts of the state.

From The Honolulu Advertiser:

HILO — Vern and Cathi Yamanaka, president and vice president of Yamanaka Enterprises Inc., have established an endowed scholarship to benefit students at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo. Several additional members of the Yamanaka family have pledged to support the fund with contributions as well. Yamanaka Enterprises Inc., a real estate brokerage firm that specializes in commercial and large parcel acquisitions, management and consultation, is ranked among the top real estate firms in Hawai’i. Several of Vern and Cathi’s children are employed at the firm.

Hiromu Yamanaka received his BA from the University of Hawai’i at Mnoa in 1943. After a 20-year career as a teacher in vocational agriculture he started his own realty company, Hiromu Yamanaka Realty, Inc. He was an integral player in the Hilo community and for many years was instrumental in the development of the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, serving as an officer of the Friends of the University of Hawai’i, Hilo

Campus and co-chairing the UH Hilo Fund in 1971. He was instrumental in organizing the Hawai’i Island Board of Realtors and served as its first president in 1966. He was then appointed by the Governor to serve as Real Estate Commissioner from 1965-73.

Helen Yamanaka was a graduate of Kapi’olani Business College and worked for 26 years in a civilian capacity as an administrative assistant at Kilauea Military Camp. She also served as secretary/treasurer of Hiromu Yamanaka Realty, Inc.

The fund will benefit undergraduate students in any field at UH Hilo. Students must have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, financial need will be a criterion and preference will be given to students who have graduated from high school on the Big Island.

Vern Yamanaka currently serves as a member of the UH Hilo Chancellor’s Advisory Board.

“It’s such a privilege to receive the gift of a permanent scholarship from a family whose members has been so closely linked to UH Hilo over three generations,” said UH Hilo Chancellor Rose Tseng.

Photo by John Oshima

In today’s Honolulu Advertiser:

KAILUA, KONA, Hawai’i — The Big Island may become the center of the universe for U.S. space projects. At least that is the vision of the director of a space research program at the University of Hawai’i-Hilo.

Frank Schowengerdt, director of Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems, or PISCES, said the Big Island is the ideal spot on Earth for kick-starting NASA’s plans to put men and women on the moon and Mars permanently. “We’re going back (to the moon) and we’re going back to stay by 2018 or 2020,” he said. “We want a permanent presence on the moon, and PISCES has a permanent place on the Big Island.”

The PISCES program, which scored $400,000 last year from the Legislature, bills itself as an international research and education center for the development of technologies to sustain human life on the moon and beyond.

Its mission is to advance the settlement of space through partnerships with industry, academia, NASA and space agencies around the world, Schowengerdt said. Future funding likely will come from federal and state sources, as well as private donations and grants.

The program last month was instrumental in NASA’s successful tests of equipment to turn soil into oxygen and water on the slopes of Mauna Kea.

Link

Tonight’s guest on Focus on UH Hilo cable TV show is Hawaii Small Business Development Center Network’s state director William Carter. Carter will discuss the business incubator’s role in development of small enterprises and services that promote job and sales growth.

The 30-minute show airs live tonight on local cable Channel 55 starting at 8:00 p.m. For those who do not have cable, please contact the marketing and alumni office for DVD of show.

Focus on UH Hilo, hosted by Chancellor Tseng and moderated by Ken Hupp, highlights UH Hilo programs, developments and partnerships with community organizations.

For more information, email Michelle Araki at melander@hawaii.edu.

An agreement between the Academia Sinica and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo was signed this week by Chancellor Rose Tseng during a trip to Taiwan hosted by Hawai‘i Governor Linda Lingle.

The Hawai‘i-Taiwan joint partnership in undergraduate education, community outreach and astronomy research, stemming from the Taiwan-American Occultation Survey, will facilitate the enhancement of current TAOS research capabilities in Hawai‘i and initiate reciprocal educational, outreach, and research programs.

The purpose of the TAOS project (http://taos.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw) is to measure directly the number of Kuiper Belt Objects in the outer solar system. This knowledge will help scientists to understand the formation and evolution of comets in the early solar system.

“The TAOS-Hawai‘i partnership will lead to an increase in the number of under-represented minorities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professions, and expand the ability and mission of the UH Hilo ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i to interpret the relationship between science and culture,” Governor Lingle said.

“Astronomy and space science have become significant activities generating income and employment in Hawai‘i,” said Ted Liu, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “On the Big Island it is topped only by tourism. The Mauna Kea observatories bring in over $150 million dollars to the local economy and employ over 600 workers, including many kama‘aina.”

TAOS is an ongoing international research program led by the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics with a number of other institutions, including the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Taiwan’s National Central University (Institute of Astronomy), Yonsei University (South Korea), and, through this agreement, the newest member – UH Hilo.

Academia Sinica was founded June 9, 1928. As a prominent academic institution in Taiwan, Academia Sinica has two basic missions: conducting scientific research in its own institutions, as well as providing guidance, channels of communication, and encouragement to raising academic standards in the country.

Link

Teams of scientists from four universities, led by the College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, are presenting a large-scale research concept to the National Science Foundation (NSF) in order to study traditional medicine. The universities involved are UH Hilo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rutgers University and Purdue University.

“Research is becoming more of a collaborative effort because of fiscal limitations and the complexity of problems we face,” said Dr. John Pezzuto (pictured), dean of the College of Pharmacy in Hilo. “It’s important for us to reach out to other schools to share our expertise and also to show we are a competitive force in the educational arena. It’s also an important step in gaining final approval in the accreditation process, which will take place when our first class graduates in 2011.”

Using advanced analytical technology such as X-ray diffraction, spectroscopy and bioanalytics, the researchers will investigate how characteristics of traditional medicines affect how they work in people. The relationships will be pulled together with informatics and bioinformatics, or the computational organization and analysis of the data. The researchers hope to fill a gap in how to identify the important elements of traditional medicine to treat serious diseases.

“Many traditional medicines have hundreds, perhaps thousands of years of history and it is almost certain that some of them could provide important leads for new drugs or new uses for old medicines,” Pezzuto said.

Team leaders from UH Hilo are Dr. Robert Borris, associate dean for research in pharmacy, and Dr. Kenneth Morris, professor of pharmaceutics. Faculty from the departments of biology and chemistry are helping to lead the effort, as well as other faculty from throughout the College of Pharmacy.

The NSF Science and Technology program is designed to support large-scale research across institutions to advance and create new science. This pre-proposal will be decided on after April 2009, and will be one of the many ways UH Hilo’s College of Pharmacy is building a strong research reputation in the global healthcare industry, Pezzuto said.

To help communicate this vision, Pezzuto is presenting an invited lecture, co-authored with Morris, to scientists at the Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. The conference, held in Washington, D.C. this week, is organized by the American Association for Cancer Research. Current work, conducted through a collaborative project involving UH Hilo College of Pharmacy, Purdue University, Scripts Institute of Oceanography and the University Illinois at Chicago, is funded by the National Cancer Institute. The lecture focuses on linking traditional medicine to advanced informatics, which is already used for the redesign of drug manufacturing and gene research.

Link to full story.

UH Hilo’s Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems, or PISCES, hosts team of NASA scientists this week, who are conducting research at Mauna Kea in preparation for space exploration.

NASA tests ideas on Mauna Kea

From Big Island VideoNews.com:

NASA wrapped two weeks of tests on the volcanic soil of the Big Island of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, and invited the media to take a look at the technological concepts that will assist future space missions.

The goal was to test systems that will one day assist astronauts in maintaining a sustainable and affordable lunar outpost, by drilling into alien soil and extracting water that could be used to create oxygen.

NASA’s lunar exploration plan currently projects that lunar resources could generate one to two tons of oxygen annually, or the same amount that four to six people living at a lunar outpost might breathe in a year.

The tests were held on Hawaii because Mauna Kea’s soil is so similar to the regolith that covers the moon’s surface. Three prototype systems were tested.

The tests were hosted by Pacific International Space Center [for Exploration Systems], or PISCES, based at the University of Hawaii – Hilo.

In this video, William Larson, Chief of NASA’s Applied Sciences Division, explains the tests in greater detail.