Maya Soetoro-Ng, daughter of Ann Dunham, shares insights about her mother's handicraft collection.The mother of President Barack Obama, EWC alumna S. Ann Dunham (1942-1995), is recognized in her own right for her outstanding work in anthropology, which focused on the small craft industries in Indonesian villages. “This exhibit shows how much she really valued the labor of the people,” noted EWC Curator Michael Schuster.

HONOLULU (Nov. 4, 2011) -- EWC President Charles E. Morrison participated today in a videoconference with about 80 students and teachers at Scarsdale High School in New York, focusing on issues related to the APEC Leaders Meetings in Honolulu next week. Also participating in the discussion was Robert Koepcke, Deputy Director of the U.S. State Department's Bureau for East Asia and Pacific Affairs.

Video of the discussion will be posted soon as part of the launch of a new online school exchange program called "Open Channels," which will connect more than 60 schools in the U.S., Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and elsewhere.

The East-West Center community was saddened to learn of the sudden death on Nov. 29 of Adjunct Senior Fellow Jon Van Dyke, a University of Hawaii law professor and longtime associate of the Center. He was a leading authority on constitutional, international and maritime law, as well as indigenous and environmental issues. Recently, he participated in an EWC-organized meeting of supreme court justices from ASEAN countries.

Our thoughts and deepest condolences go to Jon’s wife Sherry, his family and his many friends, students and colleagues. The University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson School of Law has created a tribute page, where those who wish to do so may share their condolences and memories.

On April 29, the Government of Japan conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays on EWC Adjunct Project Specialist Robert Toshio Nakasone in recognition of his contributions to the promotion of friendly relations and mutual understanding between Japan and the United States.

EWC Obuchi Project Specialist Robert NakasoneNakasone founded the Hawaii Uchinanchu Business Group in 1993, and later went on to establish the Worldwide Uchinanchu Business Association in 1997, expanding the network to 22 chapters around the world.  In doing so, he successfully brought together global entrepreneurs and small Okinawan-ancestry business owners, promoting not only U.S.-Japan exchanges but exchanges worldwide.

APLP fellows gather with the White House social media team.On the first day of their Washington, D.C. field study, EWC’s Asia Pacific Leadership Program (APLP) fellows met with the White House Office of Digital Strategy (a.k.a. the Twitter Team). They discussed how for the first time, a U.S. President is using social media platforms to amplify the Administration’s message and directly interact with the American public. “Being from Indonesia, this is very new for me,” remarked Ismail Sulaiman, APLP fellow and head lecturer of communications at the State Islamic College Cot Kala in Aceh.  “Of course we are online, but this is actively exchanging information with the U.S.

HONOLULU (April 24, 2013) -- Last month in Singapore, the East-West Center realized a four-year goal to gather ASEAN-wide young environmental leaders to create collaborative project proposals in what was deemed ““an incredible, innovative, and enriching workshop” by Eric Watnik, the Public Affairs Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore. 

Fifty-seven alumni from the Study of the US Institutes (SUSI) at East-West Center and University of Montana Mansfield Center (UMT) spent three intensive days crafting proposals for the chance to win $25,000 from the U.S. State Department’s Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund. 

HONOLULU (Sept. 4, 2103) -- Graduate students from India and Pakistan participated in a two-way video conference last week as part of a cross-border East-West Center project, funded by the U.S. State Department, that brings together experts, scholars, young professionals and university students from both countries to explore development issues in critical ‘peri-urban’ areas that lie between cities and the countryside.

The 2014-2015 Pacific Islands Women in Leadership (WIL) Program held its capstone workshop in Suva, Fiji, May 17-23, 2015.  The weeklong program allowed the participants to reconnect with each other as well as make new connections within the Pacific Region.

The group reported on the status of the projects they started upon returning home after the initial program workshop held in Honolulu in October 2015.  Two of the participants from Fiji shared their projects with the WIL group with site visits.

In early 2017, staff from the East-West Center’s Asia Pacific Leadership Program partnered with the U.S. Army to help provide instruction for the Army’s Young Alaka‘i leadership development initiative, which prepares high-potential mid-career officers from across the Indo-Asia-Pacific area of operations for senior leadership positions. The program assists participants as they move from the operational outlook needed in their current roles to the more strategic mindsets required in senior ranks.