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Category: Community Gatherings

Interim Chancellor hosts 2018 Fall Gathering: UH Hilo faculty honored for tenure and promotion, new faculty and staff welcomed

Published October 4, 2018 by admin

Group of faculty with chancellor: Kirsten Møllegaard, Sarah Marusik, Marina Karides, Charmaine Higa-McMillan, Faith Mishina. and Marcia Sakai.
Some of the faculty honored for promotion at the 2018 Fall Gathering stand for photo with Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai (at far right). From left to right: Kirsten Møllegaard, Sarah Marusik, Marina Karides, Charmaine Higa-McMillan, Faith Mishina. Photo by Raiatea Arcuri.

Faculty recently awarded tenure and promotion were recognized at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo Interim Chancellor’s 2018 Fall Gathering event on Sept. 28.

“The awarding of tenure and promotion is the university’s recognition of excellence in teaching, scholarship and service,” notes Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai. “We honor and congratulate these faculty members on their achievements.”

Newcomers to UH Hilo in staff and faculty positions were also introduced at the event.

TENURE AND PROMOTION

The following faculty have been awarded TENURE AND PROMOTION:

  •  Joseph Genz, Associate Professor of Anthropology
  •  Comfort Sumida, Assistant Specialist

The following faculty have been awarded TENURE:

  • Kurt Dela Kruz, Jr. Specialist
  • Jonathan Goebel, Associate Professor of Art
  • Mary Louise Haraguchi, Librarian III
  • Faith Mishina, Associate Professor of Language
  • Ryan Perroy, Associate Professor of Geography

The following faculty have been awarded PROMOTION:

  • Jonathan Awaya, Professor of Biology
  • Kathy Cooksey, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy
  • Mazen Hamad, Professor of Chemistry
  • Charmaine Higa-McMillan, Professor of Psychology
  • Marina Karides, Professor of Sociology
  • Sarah Marusek, Professor of Political Science
  • Faith Mishina, Professor of Language
  • Kirsten Møllegaard, Professor of English
  • Misty Pacheco, Associate Professor of Kinesiology and Exercise Science
  • Marianne Takamiya, Professor of Physics and Astronomy
  • Jin Yin, Professor of Communication

The following faculty have been awarded DELEGATED PROMOTION:

  • Reyna Morel, Assistant Professor of Communication
  • Justin Reinicke, Assistant Specialist

NEWCOMERS TO UH HILO

Standing group.
A group of newcomers to UH Hilo are honored at the 2018 Fall Gathering hosted by Interim Chancellor Sakai. Photo by Raiatea Arcuri.

The following are new members of the UH Hilo ‘Ohana:

Administrative Affairs

  • Kumalani Borling, Security Guard
  • Clint Collins, Unit Diving Coordinator
  • Cory Kaizuka, Project Manager
  • Garrick Tamashiro, Security Guard
  • Kyle Tsuda

Athletics

  •  Melanie Marciel, Academic Advisor

College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management

  • Britton Clark Cole, Farm Manager
  • Sharadchandra Marahatta, Assistant Professor
  • Lissa Tsutsumi, Instructor
  • Cheryl Yara, Farm Technician

College of Arts and Sciences

  • Helen Duley, Instructor of Sociology
  • Patsy Iwasaki, Lecturer of Communication and English
  • Michael Skinner, Instructor of History

College of Business and Economics

  • James Czarski, Instructor of Economics
  • Andrey Simonov, Assistant Professor of Accounting
  • Erin Swain, Administrative Services Officer
  • Heng Tien, Instructor of Marketing and Management and Career Development Coordinator

College of Natural and Health Sciences

  • John Burns, Assistant Professor of Marine Science
  • Joel Kaufmann, Instructor of Biology
  • Daniel O’Conner, Instructor of Physics and Astronomy

College of Pharmacy

  • Jeryd Teramoto, IT Specialist

Library

  • Joseph Sanchez, Library Director

North Hawai‘i Education and Research Center

  • Kei-Lin Cerf, Director

Student Affairs

  • Michelle Cooper, Admissions Counselor
  • Shayna Fuerte, Academic Advisor and Counselor
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Fundraiser held to benefit lava rescue horses and mini donkey now housed at UH Hilo Farm

Published September 25, 2018 by admin

Bentos for Bob-Bob: The benefit is a partnership with UH Hilo, Chef Alan Wong, the Adopt-A-Beehive with Alan Wong program, and Sodexo Dining Services.

Alan Wong and Marcia Sakai.
Chef Alan Wong (left) and Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai with Bob-Bob, a miniature donkey rescued during the recent lava flow in Puna and now housed at the UH Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory along with 22 rescue horses. Photo taken outside the UH Hilo College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, Sept. 24, 2018. Raiatea Arcuri/UH Hilo Stories.
Alan Wong and Marcia Sakai.
Alan Wong looks on while Marcia Sakai feeds Bob-Bob. Photo by Alyson Kakugawa-Leong, click to enlarge.

Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai attended a fundraiser today to benefit a community outreach project at the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management. The “Bento Benefit for Bob-Bob” raised $2,500 to help support University of Hawai‘i at Hilo’s equine program to fund medication, horse supplements, and veterinary care for horses at UH Hilo’s Agricultural Farm Laboratory in Pana‘ewa.

In May 2018, with the Kilauea eruption in Puna, 22 horses and the mini-donkey Bob-Bob were displaced from their homes and fostered at the UH Hilo Farm. Their care has been provided by UH Hilo pre-veterinary students and volunteers.

The benefit is a partnership with UH Hilo, Chef Alan Wong, the Adopt-A-Beehive with Alan Wong program, and Sodexo Dining Services. The UH Hilo farm is home to the apiary that is central to Alan Wong’s Adopt-a-Beehive Program.

Bentos were pre-sold and picked up on campus today where Bob-Bob was on hand to thank everyone in person.

Chef Alan Wong, Reid Kusano, and Dylan Sugimoto.
(Left to right) Chef Alan Wong and Sodexo’s Reid Kusano thank Dylan Sugimoto, a senior, as he picks up his bento Sept. 24 on the UH Hilo campus. Raiatea Arcuri/UH Hilo Stories.
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Genome editing pioneer Jennifer Doudna visits UH Hilo; Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai hosts reception, lecture, and private dinner

Published September 19, 2018 by admin

The lecture was the first of the Rose and Raymond Tseng Distinguished Lecture Series at UH Hilo. The series is supported by an endowed fund started by UH Hilo Chancellor Emerita Rose Tseng.

Marcia Sakai, Jennifer Doudna and Rose Tseng at dinner table with lava wall background.
(Left to right) Following Prof. Doudna’s lecture, UH Hilo Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai hosted Prof. Doudna and UH Hilo Chancellor Emerita Rose Tseng for a private dinner at Hilo landmark Ken’s House of Pancakes. Photo by Bob Douglas/UH Hilo Stories, click to enlarge.

Jennifer Doudna, professor of molecular and cell biology and chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution, gave a lecture titled “CRISPR Systems: Nature’s Toolkit for Genome Editing” on Monday at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

Jennifer Doudna on stage at podium.
Jennnifer Doudna gives lecture at the UH Hilo Performing Arts Center on Sept. 17, 2018. See more photos of lecture.

Doudna gained international renown when she and her colleagues at UC Berkeley were the first to develop the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology that enables scientists to edit the DNA of any organism. Based on a naturally occurring process used by bacteria to fight viruses, the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) system provides scientists with a tool to make precise changes to the DNA of the genes, thereby modifying the function of cells in specific ways.

This visit was a special homecoming for Prof. Doudna. She was born in Washington, DC, and moved to Hilo with her parents when she was seven years old. She is a 1981 graduate of Hilo High School. Her father, Martin Doudna, was an English professor at UH Hilo, and her mother, Dorothy Doudna, taught history at Hawai‘i Community College.

Rose and Raymond Tseng Distinguished Lecture Series

The lecture was the first of the Rose and Raymond Tseng Distinguished Lecture Series at UH Hilo. The series is supported by an endowed fund started by UH Hilo Chancellor Emerita Rose Tseng.

Before the talk, Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai hosted a reception for Prof. Doudna and Chancellor Emerita Tseng. Photos by Bob Douglas, click to enlarge.

Jennifer Doudna and Rose Tseng.
(L-R) Prof. Doudna and Chancellor Emerita Rose Tseng.

Following the talk, Interim Chancellor Sakai hosted Prof. Doudna and Chancellor Emeritus Tseng at a private dinner at Hilo landmark Ken’s House of Pancakes.

 

About the photographer: Bob Douglas is a local artist, photographer, and sometimes part-time student who volunteers his photography skills to the Office of the Chancellor and UH Hilo Stories.

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UH Hilo staff plan kīpaepae welina and convocation for new incoming students and their ‘ohana

Published August 9, 2018 by admin

University community pulls together to assist in this cultural way of welcoming incoming students to be a part of the UH Hilo ʻohana.

Chancellor twists ti into lei.
Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai and staff member Kalei Baricuatro make ti leaf lei last week on the lanai of the Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center. The leis will be given to new students during welcoming ceremonies on Aug. 15.

Click photos to enlarge.

University of Hawai‘i at Hilo Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai joined university staff on the lanai of the Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center last Wednesday to help make 200+ lei la‘i (ti leaf lei) for the newest Vulcans and their ‘ohana.

“For the past two fall orientations, our (university) ‘ohana has come together to make over 400 lei la‘i (ti lef lei) for our new students and their families,” says Shara Mahoe, director of First Year Experience Programs at UH Hilo.

Mahoe says this year, organizers will be incorporating a kīpaepae welina, a welcoming ceremony, prior to the New Student Convocation formal program scheduled for Wednesday, August 15, 2018, at 12:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center. Administrators, faculty and staff will assist in this cultural way of welcoming incoming students to be a part of the UH Hilo ʻohana.

There also will be orientation events and workshops before convocation week for people who wish to participate but are unfamiliar or have not attended a kīpaepae. No prior experience is necessary to be a part of the kīpaepae, explains Mahoe.

A Google sign up page has been created so organizers can communicate with admin, faculty and staff that would like to participate.

“Let us gather together as the UH Hilo ʻohana and welcome our new students on their academic journey!” says Mahoe in an email to the university community.

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Open forum at UH Hilo with UH President Lassner, May 11

Published April 26, 2018 by admin

President Lassner will deliver remarks and then do a Q&A to discuss ideas, concerns and aspirations for UH Hilo.

David Lassner
David Lassner

All members of the campus community at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo are invited to an open forum with UH President David Lassner.

DATE: Friday, May 11, 2018.
TIME: 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.
PLACE: University Classroom Building, room 127.

President Lassner will deliver remarks and then do a Q&A to discuss ideas, concerns and aspirations for UH Hilo.

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