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.

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 (Jan. 10, 2012) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has appointed five new members to three-year terms on the East-West Center’s Board of Governors.

The new members are: UN Foundation CEO Kathy Bushkin Calvin, Clinton advisor and former USAID official Margaret Carpenter, Three Oaks Investments CEO and former White House National Economic Council senior counselor Ginger Lew, Mapleton Investments Chairman Marc Nathanson, and former U.S. Ambassador to Fiji and other Pacific island nations M. Osman Siddique.

Outgoing board members are Lori Forman, Theodore Lee, Patricia Saiki, S. Linn Williams, and Michael Young.

Applications Now Open for
Research Fellowships in Washington, D.C.

HONOLULU (Jan. 18, 2012) -- The East-West Center has received an initial grant of $93,858 ­from the Center for Global Partnership at the Japan Foundation – renewable over three years for a total of approximately $281,574 ­– to support the EWC’s new Japan Studies Fellowship Program. The program will provide three- or six-month research fellowships for scholars and analysts from the United States and Japan to conduct policy-relevant research on issues related to the U.S.-Japan partnership, including economic, diplomatic, politico-security, social, and international topics.

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.

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:

UHM SPAS Dean Edward Shultz to head EWC’s International Alumni Association Executive Board

HONOLULU (June 20, 2012) – Dr. Edward (Ned) Shultz, Dean of the School of Pacific and Asian Studies (SPAS) at University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) and Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Programs and Exchange, has been named the new president of the East-West Center’s Alumni Association Executive Board. On July 1, 2012, Shultz will succeed former UHM Asian Studies Program Graduate Chair, Dr. Ricardo Trimillos, who had served his term as president and will remain on the board as an ex-officio member.

HONOLULU (July 19, 2012) – An international delegation of election observers supported by the U.S. Department of State and organized by the East-West Center’s Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP) monitored the recent month-long general elections in Papua New Guinea. The mission included election specialists, former government officials, academics and civil society representatives from Australia, the Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands and the United States. The delegation was headed by Dr. Gerard A. Finin, Co-Director of the PIDP.

HONOLULU, HI (August 24, 2012) — As part of a collaborative project of the Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program coordinated by the East-West Center, the Center for Island Climate Adaptation and Policy (ICAP) at the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program recently published Climate Change Law and Policy in Hawai‘i, Briefing Sheet, 2012. The report chronicles Hawai'i state efforts to reduce human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and build resiliency to climate change impacts.

“The briefing sheet outlines the great work that has been accomplished thus far; however, there is much more to be done to effectively mitigate and adapt to climate change,” says Malia Nobrega, ICAP Director of Strategic Partnerships.

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 15, 2012) – More than 50 teacher-trainers, officials and diplomats from nine Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries have arrived at the East-West Center for a month of intensive English-language education training as part of the new Brunei-U.S. English Language Enrichment Program for ASEAN.

Young leaders from 10 Pacific nations participating in program supported by Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry

HONOLULU (Sept. 10, 2013) -- The East-West Center has welcomed the first group of participants to the Pacific Islands Leadership Program with Taiwan, a new initiative designed to enhance leadership capacity in the Pacific islands region and build a network of young leaders who will contribute to lasting people-to-people relationships across the Pacific, Asia, and United States.

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.

For the first time, participants from Oceania comprise the largest group

HONOLULU (Aug. 21, 2014) -- For the first time in the East-West Center’s history, students from Oceania comprise the largest percentage of incoming EWC student participants, thanks to the establishment of the Pacific Islands Leadership Program and several other new programs geared toward Pacific islanders. Students also hail from the U.S., most countries in Asia, and as far away as Italy and Zambia.

Fundraising Board Also Welcomes Three New Members 

HONOLULU (Aug.19, 2014) – The Board of Directors of the East-West Center Foundation ­­- the Center’s community fundraising arm ­– has selected members Keethe Koyanagi and Shelley Wilson as the board’s new co-chairs. Koyanagi is senior vice president of the Credit Administration Division at First Hawaiian Bank, and Wilson is president of president of Wilson Homecare. Their one-year term as co-chairs began on Aug. 1.

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 (August 13, 2015) – Nearly 100 student fellows from 40 countries and territories have arrived in Hawaii to participate in East-West Center programs this fall. The new graduate students and leadership program participants join a community of more than 110 continuing EWC participants in a diverse residential community on the East-West Center campus.

The new student fellows are participating in the EWC’s Community Building Institute, a two-week intensive activity that introduces the international students to Hawaii’s culture and major issues affecting the Asia Pacific region.

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 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.

Current President Charles E. Morrison set to retire this summer

HONOLULU (February 29, 2016) – The East-West Center Board of Governors has begun an international search for a new president to succeed Dr. Charles E. Morrison, who has announced that he will be retiring this coming August after leading the Center since 1998. Exceptional candidates from across the Asia Pacific region and the U.S. will be considered, including residents of Hawai‘i, where the Center's headquarters are located.

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1960, the East-West Center promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue. The Center serves as a resource for information and analysis through programs focusing on higher education, policy-relevant research and international professional exchange.

EWC Okinawan projects specialist Bob Nakasone
establishes $50,000 endowment in parents’ honor

HONOLULU (August 10, 2016) – Nearly 70 student fellows from 38 countries and territories have arrived in Hawai‘i to begin participating in East-West Center programs this fall. Later in the month, 37 additional participants will begin the Center’s Asia Pacific and Pacific Islands certificate leadership programs.

(View a photo gallery of the Aloha Ceremony welcoming the new participants.)

HONOLULU (Aug. 26, 2016) -- The East-West Center Board of Governors announced that Dr. Richard R. Vuylsteke, an East-West Center alumnus with extensive experience throughout the Asia-Pacific region, has been selected as the next president of the East-West Center. The appointment of Dr. Vuylsteke concludes a year-long search involving several hundred potential candidates.

HONOLULU (September 14, 2016) -- The Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) has launched its new website at PIRCA.org.  The website provides a wealth of information and resources about climate change in Hawai‘i and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI).

Dr. Richard R. Vuylsteke is an EWC alumnus who has run American Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and Taipei

HONOLULU (Jan. 5, 2017) – The East-West Center has welcomed its new President, Dr. Richard R. Vuylsteke, a former EWC grantee and staff member who rejoins the Center after several decades living in Asia and serving most recently as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

The East-West Center and the National Committee on North Korea are pleased to announce the launch of a new pilot project, North Korea in the World.

For decades, American policymakers have had limited substantive information about North Korea in their consideration of U.S. policy options, with the exception of the question of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and in more recent times, human rights.

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.

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 (Nov. 19, 2018) -- East-West Center researchers Abby Frazier and Keith Bettinger are among the authors of a new study published today in Nature Climate Change that provides one of the most comprehensive assessments yet of how humanity is being impacted by the simultaneous occurrence of multiple climate hazards strengthened by increasing greenhouse gas emissions. This research reveals that society faces a much larger threat from climate change than previous studies have suggested.

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 (Aug. 6, 2019) – Juan “Jay” Avecilla, a 16-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 2020.

Prior to his arrival in Honolulu, Mr. Avecilla served as Management Officer in the U.S. Consulate General in Milan, Italy. Previously, he has served in various management positions at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan and in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs in Washington, D.C.  His other overseas assignments included tours as Consular/Management Officer in Fukuoka, Japan, Consular Officer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Economic Officer in Hanoi, Vietnam.