Skip to main content

HONOLULU — The Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa has received a $1 million commitment from the Family Business Center of Hawai‘i (FBCH) to establish the Family Business Center of Hawai‘i Distinguished Professorship. The Family Business Center of Hawai‘i Distinguished Professor will help expand the College’s ability to recruit and retain faculty of the highest caliber in the area of family business who will serve as the FBCH faculty director, teach courses in family business, and conduct research in family business.

“We are truly grateful to the Family Business Center of Hawai‘i for funding an endowed professorship at the College,” says Vance Roley, dean of the Shidler College of Business. “In today’s competitive environment, this professorship will provide continuous funding to attract world-class educators and researchers in the area of family, thereby strengthening the College’s overall business program.”

“The Family Business Center of Hawai‘i Distinguished Professorship at the Shidler College of Business recognizes the need to support Hawai‘i’s family-owned organizations with the academic skills that are necessary to ensure the ability to perpetuate these organizations and equip their future leaders. It positions family-owned businesses at the forefront of our academic community and our business community. It also recognizes and honors the unique attributes of family-owned enterprises that make them different from traditional organizations,” states Ken Gilbert, chair of the FBCH and president of Business Consulting Resources, Inc.

The Family Business Center of Hawai‘i was established in 1995 in order to meet the unique challenges faced by successful family businesses. It is a partnership between Hawai‘i’s family business community and the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa; it is a virtual program within the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship. It provides opportunities for families to address many of the challenges they face by providing educational seminars and a forum for the exchange of information between families so that they can survive and thrive through the 21st century. Currently, the membership is 54 family businesses strong and meet every other month for luncheons featuring speakers from local family businesses and nationally recognized experts.

Family businesses contributing to the Family Business Center of Hawai‘i Distinguished Professorship included:

  • Accuity LLP
  • Bank of Hawaii
  • BizGym
  • Marcus Boland
  • Business Consulting Resources, Inc.
  • Central Pacific Bank
  • HCD Corp. dba Hawaiian Carpet One, Hawaiian Ceramic Tiles
  • Imperial Associates, Ltd.
  • John Butler
  • Kawika's Painting Inc.
  • Hawaii National Bank
  • Kualoa Ranch Hawaii, Inc.
  • Leighton Lam Designs Inc.
  • Manoa Shopping Center, Inc.
  • Market City Ltd
  • Maui Varieties Ltd
  • Myron Nakata
  • Niu Pia Land Company, Ltd.
  • Outrigger Enterprises, Inc.
  • Pacific Pipe Company, Inc.
  • Pioneer Contracting Co., Ltd./ Pioneer Ace Hardware
  • Pural Water Specialty Co., Inc
  • Resort Management Group LLC
  • Service Rentals & Supplies Inc.
  • Title Guaranty Escrow Services, Inc.
  • Tory's Roofing & Waterproofing, Inc.
  • VIP Foodservice
  • Watumull Brothers Ltd.
  • Y. Hata & Co., Limited
  • Yama's Fish Market

“We thank the Family Business Center of Hawai‘i for recognizing that UH Mānoa is the state’s only research university,” said UH Mānoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman. “We have a special responsibility to maintain and strengthen our research, and to encourage faculty and students to do their work. This generous $1 million commitment will not only attract researchers and instructors to the realm of family business, but will encourage and celebrate this strategic aspect of the economy.”

UH Foundation president and CEO Donna Vuchinich added, "Family businesses are the bedrock of all local economies. Here in Hawai‘i they are vital to growth and sustainability of our communities and cultural vitality. We are most grateful to the Family Business Center of Hawai‘i for their strategic investment in this important area."

Image
From Left to Right: Unyong Nakata, senior director of development, University of Hawai‘i Foundation – Shidler College of Business; Ken Gilbert, chair of the FBCH and president of Business Consulting Resources, Inc.; Vance Roley, dean, Shidler College of Business; and Donna Vuchinich, president and CEO, University of Hawai‘i Foundation.

# # #

The Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Established in 1949 as the College of Business Administration, the College was named in 2006 after alumnus Jay H. Shidler, founder and managing partner of The Shidler Group. The Shidler College of Business is renowned for its expertise in international management education and is consistently ranked among the nation's top graduate schools for international business by U.S. News. Long recognized for its Asia-Pacific focus, the College is a professional school offering a wide variety of degree, certificate and executive programs. The UH Shidler College of Business is the only graduate program in the State of Hawai‘i accredited by AACSB International. For more information, visit www.shidler.hawaii.edu.

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa serves approximately 20,000 students pursuing more than 225 different degrees. Coming from every Hawaiian island, every state in the nation, and more than 100 countries, UH Mānoa students thrive in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas. For more information, visit manoa.hawaii.edu. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises private funds to support the University of Hawaiʻi System. The mission of the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation is to unite donors' passions with the University of Hawaiʻi’s aspirations by raising philanthropic support and managing private investments to benefit UH, the people of Hawaiʻi and our future generations www.uhfoundation.org.