EWC Board Elects Puongpun Sananikone as New Chairman

International development economist and business executive
is an alumnus and longtime supporter of the Center

HONOLULU (July 11, 2008) – Members of the East-West Center’s Board of Governors have elected international development economist Puongpun Sananikone to serve as the board’s new chairman. At a meeting today, the board named Sananikone to succeed Roland Lagareta, who became the board’s vice-chairman.

In addition, the board reappointed member Il SaKong, a former South Korea minister of finance and currently a leading economic advisor to President Lee Myung-bak, to a third term on the board. SaKong’s new term will extend until October 2011.

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.

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 Attorney R. Brian Tsujimura chosen to head EWC’s Board of Governors

R. Brian TsujimuraHONOLULU (March 19, 2012) – Members of the East-West Center’s Board of Governors have elected Honolulu attorney and land developer R. Brian Tsujimura to serve as the board’s new chairman. At a meeting on March 16, the board named Tsujimura to succeed Puongpun Sananikone, who had served his maximum term as chairman and will remain on the board as chair of its Outreach Committee. The board also selected Honolulu attorney Richard Turbin as vice chair.

The 5th annual Summer Institute in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Human Rights will take place from 16 to 26 July 2012 in Singapore and focus on the topic of business and human rights.

The Summer Institute is a regionally based workshop held in partnership with organizations in Southeast Asia to consider key IHL and human rights issues, past and present, facing the region. Established in 2008 by the Asian International Justice Initiative, a collaborative project between the East-West Center and the War Crimes Studies Center, the Summer Institute is designed for participants working across a broad range of fields and disciplines within the Asia Pacific region or whose work has an Asia Pacific focus. Previous Summer Institute sessions have attracted lawyers, journalists, government officials, and NGO workers from more than 15 countries.

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 (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.

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.”

Honolulu Attorney Turbin chosen to head EWC’s Board of Governors;
Peter Ho and Ronald Moon appointed to board by Gov. Ige

HONOLULU (Feb 2, 2016) – Members of the East-West Center’s Board of Governors have elected Honolulu attorney Richard Turbin to serve as the board’s new chairman. At a meeting today, the board named Turbin, a member of the board since 2011, to succeed R. Brian Tsujimura, who had served his maximum term as chairman. Tsujimura will remain on the board as co-vice chair, along with re-appointed Vice Chair Margaret Carpenter, and as chair of the Development Committee.

Former Punahou President is chosen by fellow board members to head EWC’s governing body; Bank of Hawai‘i’s Peter Ho named Vice Chair 

HONOLULU (Oct. 1, 2019) – Members of the East-West Center’s Board of Governors have elected board member and former Punahou School President Dr. James K. Scott to serve as the board’s new chairman. At a meeting Sept. 30, the board named Scott to succeed attorney Richard Turbin, who had served his maximum term as chairman but remains on the board as a member.

Former US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and
Punahou School President James Scott Chosen as Vice Chairs

HONOLULU (Oct. 17, 2017) –Members of the East-West Center’s Board of Governors have re-appointed Honolulu attorney Richard Turbin as the board’s Chairman for another one-year term. Turbin, a member of the board since 2011, has served as its Chairman since February 2016. At a meeting on Oct. 6, the board also selected former US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Kurt Campbell and Punahou School President James Scott as Vice-Chairs.

HONOLULU (November 23, 2018) – Strained freshwater supplies, damaged and compromised coastal infrastructure, coral reef death, and greater stresses on native biodiversity and species are among the major concerns and challenges detailed in the Hawai‘i-Pacific Islands chapter of the fourth official US National Climate Assessment, released today. In economic terms, the impacts add up to billions of dollars.

The chapter on Hawai‘i and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands appears in Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, the most significant US report to assess the effects of climate change on the US economy and communities. The assessment finds that early action to address these impacts can lower economic, environmental, social, and cultural costs and could help to prevent conflict or displacement from lands and resources.