2009 UHAA Distinguished Alumni Awards

Thursday, May 7, 2009 – 5:30 to 9 p.m.

Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, Hawai'i Ballroom – 2255 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, Hawai'i

REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED

The University of Hawai'i Alumni Association (UHAA) is pleased to honor the recipients of the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Awards (DAA) at our annual dinner on May 7, which benefits the UHAA scholarship fund. The UHAA President's Award will be presented to President David and Wendie McClain. President McClain has led the 10-campus UH system since 2004; his term of appointment concludes on July 31, 2009. Please join the university community in saying "Mahalo" to the McClains.

For more information or to purchase tables or seats, please click here, call (808) 956-2586, toll free 1-877-842-5867, or e-mail events@uhalumni.org.

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Chiyome Fukino is a 1979 graduate of the John A. Burns School of Medicine. Since 2002, Dr. Fukino has served as the director of the Hawai'i State Department of Health. A few accomplishments during her tenure include making Hawai'i the first state in the nation to offer a statewide school-based flu vaccination program and holding the state's first Statewide Suicide Prevention Conference. In 2005, she was honored for her outstanding contribution to the medical community with the first-ever Hawai'i Medical Association's President's Award. She has also conducted research projects on improving healthcare for Native Hawaiians and exploring how ancient Hawaiian healing practices can be applied to modern medicine.

James and Lois Horton both received their master's degrees in 1969 from the University of Hawai'i and their Ph.D.s from Brandeis University. One of their many books, "Slavery and the Making of America," was the basis for a series of the same name on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). They also served as advisers for the History Channel's Emmy Award-winning series,"10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America." They continue to serve as visiting professors in the UH Manoa American Studies Department.

Dee Jay Mailer received her M.B.A. from the Shidler College of Business in 1985 and a B.S. from the School of Professional Nursing at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa in 1975. Since 2004, she has served as chief executive officer at Kamehameha Schools. Formerly, she was chief operating officer of the United Nations-supported Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and chief executive officer for Kaiser Permanente.

Sabrina McKenna is a 1982 graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law and received her B.A. in Japanese at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa in 1978. She has had a distinguished career as a lawyer and jurist. She was also an assistant professor of law at the William S. Richardson School of Law and a former member of the Rainbow Wahine Basketball team.

UH Founders Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award

Daniel B.T. Lau is a 1941 graduate of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, where he studied business economics. Two weeks after graduating from UH, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in World War II, where he witnessed the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. He volunteered in 1943 and was accepted in the U.S. Army Aircorps for flight training but was reassigned to the Army to train replacements in anticipation for D-Day casualties. He was injured and earned the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster in December 1944 in the Battle of the Bulge. In 1952, he co-founded one of the state's largest financial services companies, Finance Factors, where he currently serves as chairman. Through his generosity, he has established scholarships for UH students. As a member of the Board of Directors for UHAA, he continues to serve and give back to the UH community.

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Any UH alumnus who has either completed 50 percent of an educational program within the UH System of 10 campuses, or received a degree from a UH campus, is eligible for nomination. The nomination process began in September 2008, and nominations were reviewed by a committee composed of members of the UHAA Board of Directors, past award recipients and members of the community-at-large.

UH HOMECOMING DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI
In 1987, the UH held its first Homecoming Program on the Manoa campus since the 1950s. The following were recognized as "UH Homecoming Distinguished Alumni," the forerunner to the UHAA Distinguished Alumni Awards first given in 1989, after UHAA formally organized as the UH System alumni association program:

Daniel Akaka '52, '56
Reiko Brandon '74
Gladys Brandt '42
Jean Sadako King '48, '68
Richard Mamiya '50
Patsy Mink '48
Dudley Pratt '71
Winona Rubin
Patricia Saiki '52
Peter Savio '70
George Wackenhut '43