HONOLULU (Sept. 8, 2011) -- Philippines President Benigno Aquino III has appointed East-West Center alumnus Juan Romeo Nereus Acosta to the newly created cabinet post of Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection.

President Aquino told the press that Acosta, who is popularly known by the nickname “Neric,” will be tasked with coordinating environmental concerns for a “coherent implementation of policy.”

President Aquino administers the Oath of Office to Neric Acosta on Aug. 24. Photo: Jay Morales/Malacañang Photo Bureau.“(He) will help me have a better, sharper focus because he will be able to tackle it in a more in-depth manner,” Aquino said after Acosta was sworn in on Aug. 24.

President and his family view exhibit on his mother’s anthropology work and visit Japanese Garden 

HONOLULU (Jan. 1, 2012) – President Obama and his family paid a New Year’s Day visit to the East-West Center to view an exhibition on the anthropological field work that the president’s late mother, Ann Dunham, conducted in Indonesia. The family also visited the Center’s well-known Japanese garden.

HONOLULU (Oct. 4, 2012) – Former East-West Center Diplomat-in-Residence Sharon (“Shari”) Villarosa has been confirmed as the new U.S. Ambassador to the Indian Ocean island nations of Mauritius and the Seychelles. Villarosa was nominated to the post by President Obama last fall and confirmed by the Senate on Sept. 22.

Villarosa said at her confirmation hearing that she would work “to increase U.S. exports to (Mauritius’) healthy, thriving market economy,” and to “encourage Seychelles' continued progress in implementing sound political and economic reforms and protecting human rights.  … I hope that we can continue to support the efforts of Seychelles to counter piracy and promote better security in East Africa and the Indian Ocean.”

HONOLULU (Jan.16, 2013) — The Pacific Islands Climate Services Forum to be held next week in Suva, Fiji, will feature discussion of the recently released 2012 Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) report, titled Climate Change and Pacific Islands: Indicators and Impacts.  The Forum provides an opportunity for dialogue between climate experts and decision makers, including resource and disaster risk managers and community planners, as well as government ministries and policy makers from across the region. PIRCA editors will present a summary of the report, which incorporates findings of the more than 100 scientists who assessed climate change impacts in Hawai‘i and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands.

YANGON, MYANMAR (June 25, 2013) -- Sixteen distinguished journalists from 10 Asia Pacific nations, including the U.S., are currently visiting Myanmar on a study tour, as the East-West Center brings its internationally recognized Jefferson Fellowships journalists’ exchange program to the country for the first time in the program’s 46-year history.

HONOLULU (Sept. 24, 2013) -- Distinguished health experts from around the world are gathered this week at the East-West Center in Hawai‘i for the 15th International Conference of the Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health. Keynote speakers include Superfund Research Program Director William Suk of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn Mahidol of Thailand, a professor of chemistry who will speak on potential health impacts of exposure to environmental pollutants in children.

Princess Chulabhorn Mahidol of Thailand speaks on the impacts of environmental pollutants on children's health.Major themes of the Sept. 24-27 conference include:

HONOLULU (Dec. 3, 2013) -- Five high school students and one teacher from Burma who were recent participants in the Southeast Asia Youth Leadership Program at the East-West Center have won a grant of $7,000 in a project proposal competition sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, which funds the SEAYLP program.

The EWC program alumni received their award for a proposal to educate the public in the city of Mandalay about environmental issues – with a special focus on outreach to adolescents – and to decrease the amount of litter in the community through clean-ups and placement of recycling bins.

HONOLULU (Jan. 10, 2014) – Twenty K-12 educators from South Korea have arrived at the East-West Center to begin a month of residencies in U.S. school communities in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and Vermont. The ROK-US Teacher Exchange Program global learning and school immersion program is coordinated by EWC’s AsiaPacificEd Program with funding from the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding under the auspices of UNESCO and the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Education. Later this year, American teachers from the U.S. host schools will travel to Korea for reciprocal exchange and learning.

HONOLULU (Sept. 16, 2015) -- At a gala dinner celebration last night with  550 people in attendance, the East-West center celebrated its 55^th year and honored master traditional navigator Nainoa Thompson with the Center’s Asia Pacific Community Building Award.

“If you’re building an Asia Pacific community, the inspiration comes from an Asia Pacific community, and that’s what we are in Hawai‘i,” said East-West Center President Charles E. Morrison. “There are a lot of inspiring examples in Hawai‘i, and we’re honoring one of the most inspirational tonight, Nainoa Thompson – a great inspiration to our students, a great inspiration to our state, a great inspiration to our island region, the Asia Pacific region and now to the world

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 27, 2016) -- The East-West Center in Washington has announced the appointment of four international 2016 Asia Studies Fellows, as well as the arrival of two additional visiting scholars.

The East West Center in Washington hosts a number of Visiting Fellows and Visiting Scholars each year. “The robust Visiting Fellows program in Washington, D.C. promotes the core missions of the East-West Center—education, research and exchange,” said Satu Limaye, EWC Director in Washington. “The Visiting Fellows give public presentations, cooperate with other institutions and produce outreach and publication outcomes. We welcome the new batch of visiting fellows.”

Asia Studies Fellowship Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 6, 2017) -- The East-West Center in Washington has announced the appointment of four 2017 Asia Studies Fellows from across the Asia-Pacific. Selected from a highly competitive process, these scholars will engage the Washington research and policy community over the course of their three-month residencies.

The East West Center in Washington hosts a number of Visiting Fellows and Visiting Scholars each year. “The robust Visiting Fellows program in Washington, D.C. promotes the core missions of the East-West Center—education, research and exchange,” says Satu Limaye, EWC Director in Washington. “The Visiting Fellows’ give public presentations, cooperate with other institutions and produce outreach and publication outcomes. We welcome the new batch of visiting fellows.”

HONOLULU (July 14, 2017) – Researchers with the Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (Pacific RISA) program housed at the East-West Center have released the latest in a series of “Climate Matters” ‘documoment’ videos. The new seven-minute video, titled “Climate Matters for Ridge to Reef Ecosystems,” focuses on climate change impacts in West Maui forest watersheds and reef ecosystems. The video features interviews with two Pacific RISA stakeholders from the Maui Future Climate Scenarios project, each representing part of the ridge-to-reef climate and ecosystem connection.

HONOLULU (Sept. 7, 2017) –  Peggy Petrovich, a 17-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, has joined the East-West Center as Diplomat-in-Residence. She will be posted at the Center until June 2018.

HONOLULU (May 30, 2019) -- The East-West Center is pleased to welcome Ambassador Karena Lyons, the former New Zealand Ambassador to the nations of Micronesia and Consul General for Hawai‘i, as the Center’s new Vice President, Executive Director of Research, and Director (designate) of the Pacific Islands Development Program.

HONOLULU (June 13, 2019) -- East-West Center alumnus David R. Stilwell was confirmed by 94-3 vote of the U.S. Senate today as the new U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Stilwell, a retired Air Force Brigadier General, received his master’s degree in Asian studies as an EWC grantee in the 1980s and later was an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Center.