Endowed Scholarships from a UH Graduate

To help others with a similar background, he established two endowed scholarships.

• The Arthur H. and Bernice S. Y. Chun Endowed Scholarship supports students pursuing studies in the Arts and Sciences at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. This scholarship is a memorial to his parents and the great respect for education that they instilled in their children.
  
  Arthur Chun, born in southern China, immigrated to Hawai’i as a young boy. Because he had to work early in life, he could not complete high school. He initially worked as a bartender at a Waikiki restaurant, and then helped Bernice Chun at a coffee shop. He finally became a cook at Tripler Army Hospital until retirement. Bernice Chun was born in Hawai’i and also did not complete high school. She was employed at a coffee shop, where she prepared delicious meals.
   
• The Dr. Calvin S. Y. Chun Endowed Scholarship in Mathematics is the first scholarship fund specifically for undergraduate majors in mathematics that will be endowed, providing scholarship funding in perpetuity from interest earnings. As a mathematics major himself, Dr. Chun wished to support similar students to pursue their aspirations in mathematics.

A Solid Foundation

Calvin and his siblings grew up in the neighborhood near McKinley High School, where they graduated from high school. He earned his BA in mathematics at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. He earned his M.S. in statistics from the California State University, East Bay and a Ph.D. in biostatistics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

The background in calculus and linear algebra, obtained from the mathematics department at the University of Hawai’i, provided a solid foundation for his career. Dr. Chun has worked as a computer programmer and as a mathematics instructor at community colleges. He pursued a long career as a statistician at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife until retirement.

Why give back?

Dr. Chun established two endowed scholarships to support students who shared a similar background. Growing up in Honolulu, he was fortunate to have had wonderful parents who shared a love of Hawai’i and its culture as well as a love of learning. Dr. Chun hopes that these scholarships will support students’ educational aspirations at the University of Hawai’i.