No major university can grow and excel without a healthy mix of public and private funds. Private contributions leverage public funds and maximize taxpayer dollars. Through partnering with philanthropic investors, our university can sustain excellence and enhance the student experience, making our campuses learning destinations of choice.
Many of the donors who give major gifts to the University of Hawaiʻi do so to support a program, school, or area of study that they believe in. Without exception, their gift has a major impact on our students, faculty and campus community as a whole.
Recent Impact Stories
"Scholarships have allowed me to conduct my dissertation research to understand influences of childhood diet and physical activity behaviors in my home islands of the Northern Marianas."
"I was on the phone with the counselor of the program every day, and he helped me transfer my transcripts from my four-year college. Two weeks later, I got an acceptance letter from the program, saying, “Congratulations, and welcome to the Fire Science Program at HCC.”'
"I’m thankful for donors’ support of law students at William S. Richardson School of Law. Seeking justice through social policy is one of my main goals, and I will continue pursuing this now that I’ve graduated."
Scholarships created by gifts from Ward Village and Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. were a welcome surprise for more than 150 apprentices in Honolulu Community College’s Apprenticeship and Journey Worker Training program.
Pat Adams was a UH Maui College professor beloved by students, faculty and staff. Her son and daughter-in-law pay tribute with a new fund for UHMC's construction technology students.
Bernard and Pamela Lum were best friends and soul mates who shared a life full of love and laughter, traveling together abroad, enjoying good food and friends, and cheering for UH’s basketball teams. As a testament to the many blessings in their lives, they chose to add to their philanthropic legacy through a gift in their estate plan, not only adding to their existing cancer research and endowed scholarship funds, but also creating three additional endowed scholarships.
Brig. Gen. Edwin A. “Skip” Vincent, left, seen with Jon Osorio, dean of the Hawai‘inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, founded the Hawaii Pacific Foundation after retiring from a long career in the Hawaiʻi Air National Guard as a way to give back to the Native Hawaiian community. “What we're doing is we're taking the helpers and the people who need help and we’re a bridge between them, finding ways to allow them to communicate better,” Vincent says. The Native Hawaiian organization has invested nearly $1 million in UH programs that benefit Native Hawaiian students and their communities by helping to empower them and those around them.
The Vernon and Yun Soong Jim Micropropagation Endowment will support the Lyon Arboretum’s micropropagation lab into the distant future. The couple’s three daughters agree this represents their parents’ values and respect for the work at the Mānoa arboretum.
A gift from alumna Lori Admiral and her husband, Mark, creates the Admiral Residency in Contemporary Pacific Art at the UH Mānoa’s Department of Art and Art History, which will bring two visiting artists to campus to help art students see other cultures and perspectives. “Being a student in the art department was rewarding, and I felt it was important to give back,” says Lori Admiral, who earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in art history at UH Mānoa. “When my husband, Mark, and I learned that funding for a teaching residency was a priority for the Department of Art and Art History, it was easy to offer support.
