UH Hilo communication professor Colby Miyose receives Hawaiʻi Island Chamber’s 2025 Professional Excellence Award
“His leadership, vision, and ability to connect people across sectors exemplify the values of the Chamber and highlight his role as one of Hawaiʻi Island’s rising stars.”
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
Colby Miyose, an associate professor of communication at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, has received the 2025 Professional Excellence Award from the Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce. The award recognizes Miyose as both a dynamic educator and a dedicated community leader.
“His leadership, vision, and ability to connect people across sectors exemplify the values of the Chamber and highlight his role as one of Hawaiʻi Island’s rising stars,” notes a statement from the Chamber on award recipient Miyose. “With his energy, scholarship, and deep commitment to service, Dr. Colby Miyose stands out as an inspiring role model for both students and peers, embodying the spirit of professional excellence.”
Assistant Professor Miyose says he is “immensely honored to receive this award.”
“I am a relational communication person, so connections and relationships matter to me,” he says. “I began my involvement with the Chamber with hopes of building connections between students and community members, and I believe that we are accomplishing that.”
“My participation in the Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce has extensively fostered strong relationships between myself, students, individuals and organizations that exceedingly contributes to student success,” he adds. “That alone drives me, but to be awarded the Professional Excellence Award further encourages me to continue to build connections and relationships.”
Born and raised in Hilo, Miyose graduated from Waiākea High School. He continued his post-secondary education at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where he received his bachelor of arts and master of arts in communication. He then came back home and worked as a lecturer at UH Hilo for a few years after which he decided to pursue a doctorate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. While completing that, he remained at UH Hilo as an instructor.
- Communication instructor Colby Miyose transitions to online teaching with compassion and empathy (UH Hilo Stories, Oct. 7, 2020)
Here’s a 2020 video featuring Miyose when he was an instructor:
The statement from the Chamber about the award notes that Miyose was recently promoted from assistant to associate professor and has earned national and international recognition for his scholarship, including three Top Paper Awards from the National Communication Association. His expertise in communication and conflict has led him to present workshops for organizations such as the Salvation Army, Kuʻikahi Mediation Center, San Diego State University, Boston University, and the Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce.
On campus, Miyose has distinguished himself through tireless service and student advocacy. He co-directs UH Hilo’s LGBTQ+ Center and the Women’s Center, serves on more than 10 university committees, and advises multiple student clubs, including UH Hilo’s Pride Club and its only competitive Esports team.
He also is the co-coordinator of the UH Hilo Kuleana and Community Talk Story series, which brings together faculty, students, and local leaders to strengthen connections between UH Hilo and the broader community.
His dedication to mentorship has earned him multiple faculty appreciation awards from both the Division of Student Affairs and the Department of Athletics. He was the 2025 recipient of the Vulcan Faculty Appreciation Award, given by Athletics.
The Chamber’s statement emphasizes that Miyose’s service extends beyond the university into the community.
He serves on the board of directors for Kuʻikahi Mediation Center, the advisory board for the Hawaiʻi County Salvation Army, and actively leads students in place-based service learning with organizations such as The Kohala Center, Three Mountain Alliance, and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
A committed member of the Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce, Miyose has helped bridge the university and business communities through initiatives such as Student Speed Networking, professional development workshops for the chamber’s Young Professionals Program (for which he currently serves as the program’s co-chair), and a pilot student sponsorship program that expanded student access to chamber events.
Miyose’s research interests span from cultural appropriation to gender equality to Netflix portrayals of people experiencing cancer. See his published work at ResearchGate.
Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
