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June 30, 2014

George A. L. Yuen Engineering Scholarship Endowment

Honoring a highly principled man unafraid of making unpopular decisions for the greater good

George Ah Leong Yuen George Ah Leong Yuen was born in 1920, the third of seven boys born to See Qui and Choy Hee Yuen, both immigrants from Guangdong, China. He grew up in lower Nu‘uanu in Honolulu. After graduating from McKinley High School, he attended the University of Hawai‘i before transferring to the University of Michigan, where he graduated with civil, structural and sanitary engineering degrees.

He returned to Hawai‘i in 1947 and began his career with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, first as an engineer in the hydrology department. Over the years he took on more responsibilities, serving O‘ahu as manager and chief engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. He left the Board of Water Supply to become the director of the State Department of Health, a leadership role he held for seven years, before joining John Mink (husband of the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink) in founding Mink and Yuen Inc., an engineering company that specialized in hydrology and hydroecological studies in the Pacific area. Yuen also served as trustee of the Choy Hee Yuen Estate and founded the real estate company GALY Partners.

In addition to his career highlights, Yuen served as president of the Lung Doo Benevolent Society, president of the United Chinese Society and junior and senior warden of St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral.

Yuen and his wife Eugenia raised three children, daughters Lenora Yuen, Georgia Yamashita and Laura. Yuen had four grandchildren, Nick and Chloe Peters, and Emily and Catherine Yamashita.

In His Memory

When George passed away on June 7, 2014, at the age of 94 his family decided to honor him by creating the George A. L. Yuen Engineering Scholarship. This endowed fund provides perpetual funding to support seniors in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa College of Engineering who are graduates of President William McKinley High School in Honolulu.

Join Us

L-R: Catherine Yamashita, Lenora Yuen and George Yuen

We invite you to join the Yuen family and make a contribution to the George A. L. Yuen Engineering Scholarship Endowment at the UH Mānoa College of Engineering. 

If you have any questions about the George A. L. Yuen Engineering Scholarship Endowment, or how best to provide support, please contact:

Questions? / More Information

If you would like to learn how you can support UH students and programs like this, please contact us at 808 376-7800 or send us a message.