HONOLULU (June 24, 2011) -- HONOLULU (June 24, 2011) -- Dr. Nancy Lewis, Director of the East-West Center’s Research Program, has been named president of the Pacific Science Association. Lewis was elected at the organization’s 22nd Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last week.

“I am deeply honored to have been elected president of the Pacific Science Association as the PSA begins charting the course towards its hundredth anniversary in 2020,” Lewis said.

Richard Magnus, Singaporean Representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, gives a keynote address.More than 65 human rights and international law professionals from 18 countries participated in the Asian International Justice Initiative’s 2011 Summer Institute in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, which focused on issues related to the rights of women and children in the Asia Pacific region.

Eric MilsteadHONOLULU (Sept. 29, 2011) – Eric N. Milstead, an IT Manager at the U.S. Department of State, has joined the East-West Center for a one-year post as a visiting research fellow and diplomat-in-residence.

The East-West Center is pleased to announce its 2012 International Media Conference, to be held June 22-24 in Seoul. The conference theme is “Networked News: How New Media is Shaping Stories in Asia and the Pacific.”

Online registration will open later this month. You will receive another announcement once registration is available. In the meantime, we encourage you to bookmark the conference site and subscribe to the conference RSS feed to keep up with event details as they develop.

HONOLULU (Nov. 25, 2011) – The East-West Center is pleased to welcome the Henry Luce Foundation as a Gold Sponsor of the EWC’s 2012 International Media Conference, scheduled for June 22-24 in Seoul, South Korea. The conference theme is “Networked News: How New Media is Shaping Stories in Asia and the Pacific.”

The Foundation has awarded EWC a special grant of $40,000 to help alumni of the Center’s annual Korea-U.S. Journalists Exchange program attend the conference. The Henry Luce Foundation has been a primary sponsor of the exchange program since 2006.

Starting with the first event in Bangkok in 2008, East-West Center’s biennial media conference has grown into one of the premier journalism meetings in the Asia Pacific region, with the 2010 conference in Hong Kong drawing close to 350 participants from 26 nations and attracting worldwide press attention.

Funded by the U.S. State Dept., cross-border project
focuses on ‘peri-urban’ development issues

HONOLULU (Feb. 3, 2012) – East-West Center environmental researchers have launched a new cooperative project with specialists in India and Pakistan to collaborate on studying development issues in critical ‘peri-urban’ areas that lie between cities and the countryside.

 This project “offers a rare opportunity for Indian and Pakistani researchers to work together on a shared exploration of the challenges and impacts of an issue that deeply affects both nations,” said EWC research fellow Sumeet Saksena, the project’s principal investigator.

HONOLULU (Aug. 28, 2012) – A group of scholars, officials, educators and business leaders from more than 20 areas all over Asia, the Pacific and the U.S. will gather at Peking University in Beijing Sept. 1-3 for an East-West Center international conference on the theme of "Community Building and Leadership in Asia Pacific."

The conference will feature more than 75 substantive presentations and panels on current regional topics, including international relations, economics, environment, education, arts and culture, health, and much more.

The Honorable Hao Ping, an East-West Center alumnus and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of China, will offer a welcoming address at the conference’s opening ceremony, and the Honorable Gary Locke, United States Ambassador to the PRC, will give a keynote address.

Journalists from Pacific Plate countries invited to apply by March 12

HONOLULU (March 5, 2012) – The Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership has awarded the East-West Center close to $100,000 to conduct a journalism seminar focusing on disaster management and resiliency. Journalists from Japan, the U.S., China and other countries bordering the seismically active Pacific tectonic plate are invited to apply by the March 12 deadline. Click here for more information.

HONOLULU (May 30, 2012) – Internet information leader Google, telecom provider KT, auto manufacturer Hyundai, international relations insitution the Korea Foundation and the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre have joined the growing list of corporate and foundation sponsors of the East-West Center’s 2012 International Media Conference, scheduled for June 22-24 in Seoul, South Korea. The conference theme is “Networked News: How New Media is Shaping Stories in Asia and the Pacific.”

SEOUL (June 20, 2012) – Several hundred journalists and media experts from more than 100 news organizations in 25 countries will gather in Seoul, South Korea June 22-24 to discuss the latest information on the impact of new and social media on events and news coverage in Asia and the Pacific.

The conference on the theme of “Networked News: How New Media Is Shaping Stories in Asia and the Pacific” will be covered online at a special website, EastWestCenter.org/IMC 2012. Visit the site to see news reports and video of keynote addresses, real-time social media coverage, session summaries and more.

A number of the conference sessions are expected to be streamed live online. Twitter users can also follow live tweets from the conference through the hashtag: #NetNews.

Featured speakers and panelists include:

HONOLULU (Sept. 27, 2012) – – Nicholas Papp, a 13-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, has joined the East-West Center as Diplomat-in-Residence. He will be posted at the Center until June 2013 with a research focus on the current democratic reform movement in Burma.

HONOLULU (Nov. 13, 2012) -- The East-West Center has launched a new, updated website for its interactive Asia Matters for America initiative, which provides an online hub for viewers to explore user-friendly graphical data on the importance of Asia to specific U.S. areas, and vice versa.

The revamped AsiaMattersforAmerica.org site now consolidates the broad-based original Asia Matters project with several regional modules focusing more specifically on U.S. interactions with ASEAN, Australia, Japan and Korea. Modules focusing on China, India, and Taiwan are under development, with preliminary information included on this expanded website.

HONOLULU (Feb. 4, 2013) ­–The East-West Center, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State and the Government of American Samoa, is currently hosting a Future Leaders of the Pacific conference in Pago Pago to address critical issues facing the Pacific Islands region. The February 4-7 gathering has convened about 25 young professionals from across Oceania, along with regional leaders and academic specialists, to focus on trends, issues, and opportunities for collective regional action.

HONOLULU (Feb. 12, 2013) -- More than 90 graduate students from 42 universities in 24 nations are set to gather at the East-West Center this week to present their research at the Center’s 12th annual International Graduate Student Conference. The interdisciplinary gathering, planned and organized by EWC students, is the largest of its kind worldwide. All conference sessions, excluding meals, are free and open to the public.

The three-day conference, which runs Feb. 14-16 at EWC’s Hawai‘i Imin International Conference Center, includes 24 panel sessions in a number of areas focusing on the Asia Pacific region and its interactions with the U.S. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, noted expert on U.S. political campaigns and media, will deliver the conference’s keynote address on Thurs. Feb. 14 at 4:30 p.m., on the topic of “The Deceptions, Distractions and Revelations of the 2012 U.S. Presidential Campaign."

HONOLULU (May 22, 2013) -- The East-West Center has received $108,000 from the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy to study how local governance mechanisms can be enhanced to address natural disasters more effectively. The ICLD grant of $108,000 will fund a collaborative research project to be conducted with partner institutions in Bangladesh and China, with EWC Senior Fellow G. Shabbir Cheema as Principal Investigator.

HONOLULU (Sept. 19, 2013) – – Timothy Neely, a 26-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, has joined the East-West Center as Diplomat-in-Residence. He will be posted at the Center until June 2014.

Specializing in economic, environmental, science and technology issues, Neely’s overseas assignments have included Guangzhou, Kaohsiung, Beijing, Taipei, Manila, and New Delhi, while his domestic assignments have included textile negotiations with East Asia and Pacific nations, and U.S. representation to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation organization.  Most recently, Tim headed the Environment, Science and Technology Affairs office at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) May 23 -The East-West Center has announced the appointment of three 2014 Japan Studies Fellows at the East-West Center in Washington. The fellowship provides residence of three or six months to scholars and analysts who wish to undertake policy-relevant research and writing on key issues of relevance to the U.S.-Japan partnership, including in the diplomatic, politico-security, economic, social and international fields.

Mary McCarthy is currently an Associate Professor at Drake University. She will conduct research on “Identity Through Historical Memory: The ‘Comfort Women’ Issue in U.S.-Japan Relations.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 9, 2014) -- The East-West Center has announced the appointment of four 2014 Asia Studies Fellows at the East-West Center in Washington. The fellowship provides residence of three or six months at the East-West Center in Washington to scholars and analysts who wish to undertake policy-relevant research and writing on key issues of relevance  to the U.S.-Asia relationship, including in the diplomatic, politico-security, economic, social and international fields. 

Mendee Jargalsaikhan is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia. He will conduct research on “The U.S.-Mongolia's Comprehensive Partnership: How to Maintain Momentum.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 16, 2014) -- Thirteen college students from the Pacific Islands and Timor Leste who are studying in Hawai‘i on East-West Center-administered scholarships are currently in Washington, D.C. on six-week internships designed to offer them professional experience and help expand their understanding of American society.

USSP and USTL participants meet with Ms. Julia Findlay of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs.

HONOLULU (July 24, 2014) – The East-West Center has announced the names of EWC alumni, volunteers and a local alumni chapter that will be honored at the Center’s upcoming international alumni conference in Okinawa. The honorees are being recognized for their outstanding personal accomplishments and service toward the Center’s mission of helping to promote better relations and understanding among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and the United States.

Distinguished Alumni Award

NAHA, OKINAWA  (Sept. 20, 2014) – At the East-West Center’s 2014 international alumni conference that concluded yesterday  in Naha, Okinawa, Center officials announced a new partnership with the Okinawa Prefecture Government that will continue an established scholarship program that allows several Okinawan students each year to pursue graduate degree or leadership program study at EWC and the University of Hawai‘i.

From left: Hidemasu Goya, Robert Nakasone, EWC Adjunct Project Specialist, and Sayaka Sakuma

HONOLULU (Sept. 25, 2014) – – Nicholas Manring, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, has joined the East-West Center as Diplomat-in-Residence. He will be posted at the Center until June 2015.

International group of 15 accomplished journalists will travel together to China,
the Philippines, Singapore and Hawai‘i to study South China Sea conflicts

HONOLULU - (March 19, 2015) -- The East-West Center has announced the selection of 15 accomplished international journalists for its 2015 Jefferson Fellowships travel-study seminar. The journalists from 12 countries and territories will travel together in May to China, the Philippines, Singapore and Hawai‘i to study territorial conflicts, resource issues, environmental concerns and more in the South China Sea. Participants represent a range of top news organizations including the Associated Press, Washington Post, PBS NewsHour, Times of India, Straits Times, Kyodo News and others.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 10, 2015) -- The East-West Center has announced the appointment of six 2015 Asia Studies Fellows at the East-West Center in Washington. The fellowship provides residence of three or six months at the East-West Center in Washington to scholars and analysts who wish to undertake policy-relevant research and writing on topics of relevance to contemporary US-Asia policy, including diplomatic, politico-security, and economic issues.

The following fellows will be in three month-residencies between June and December of this year:

HONOLULU (Sept. 3, 2015) – The East-West Center has received a $45,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to launch a series of agenda-setting workshops focusing on the impact of Asia Pacific trade agreements on trade and innovation in the region.

The East-West Center New Challenges for Trade and Innovation Workshop series, headed by EWC Senior Fellows Dieter Ernst and Michael Plummer, will bring together trade economists and experts on innovation, intellectual property rights, competition law, technical standards, and industrial development from the U.S., Asia and Europe.

HONOLULU (Oct. 2, 2015) – – Donald Sheehan, a 22-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, has joined the East-West Center as Diplomat-in-Residence. He will be posted at the Center until June 2016.

HONOLULU (Dec. 15, 2015) – The East-West Center has announced the names of EWC alumni, volunteers and alumni chapters that will be honored at the Center’s upcoming international alumni conference in Manila, Philippines Jan. 15-17, 2016. The honorees are being recognized for their outstanding personal accomplishments and service toward the Center’s mission of helping to promote better relations and understanding among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and the United States.

Distinguished Alumni Award

MANILA (Jan. 15, 2016) -- Philippines President Benigno S. Aquino III today addressed about 300 East-West Center alumni and colleagues at the Center’s three-day international alumni conference in Manila, speaking on the conference theme of "Bridging Diverse Cultures towards an Inclusive Asia Pacific Community."

“In bridging the divides between our respective contexts," President Aquino said, "it is my belief that the East-West Center, its fellows, and alumni can play an even greater, more active role by enriching the means by which we communicate, promoting more positive insights about one another, and facilitating a deeper appreciation for both our similarities and diversities.”

International group of 14 accomplished journalists will travel to China, Japan and Hawai‘i to explore the economic future of the Asia-Pacific region.

HONOLULU - (March 23, 2016) -- The East-West Center has announced the selection of 14 accomplished international journalists for its 2016 Jefferson Fellowships travel-study seminar. The print and broadcast journalists from 10 countries and territories will travel together in May to China, Japan and Hawai‘i to gain on-the-ground perspectives, deepen knowledge of regional issues and build a professional network of contacts. Participants represent a range of top news organizations including CNN International, National Public Radio, Times of India, Straits Times and others.

The selected Jefferson Fellows are: