(Honolulu, Hawaiʻi) — Dudley Pratt fondly remembers the challenges he endured while attending MBA classes and working full time. So it came as no surprise when he chose to establish the C. Dudley Pratt, Jr. Endowed Scholarship for $35,000 for graduate students in the Evening MBA program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business.
According to Pratt, this endowed scholarship for evening MBA students is being established to commemorate his graduation in 1971. "I saw a need to enroll in the MBA program," said Pratt. "As I was moving up in management, I realized that my bachelors and master’s degree in civil engineering from Yale University did not fully prepare me for the financial expertise required at higher management levels. The graduate program prepared me to lead HECO and later HEI."
Pratt enrolled at the University of Hawaiʻi in 1967, at 40 years of age, while working full time at Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO). Despite two, one-year neighbor island work assignments on Maui and the Big Island in 1969 and 1970, he was able to graduate in May 1971 with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Pratt was promoted to vice president of HECO in 1971, and president & CEO in 1981. He retired from Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI) in 1989 to become a trustee of The Estate of James Campbell until 1997.
"Dudley has been a huge supporter of the College for many years," said V. Vance Roley, dean of the Shidler College of Business. "I can’t think of a better way for Dudley to honor his own accomplishments than by providing graduate students with the same enriching education and experience that has served him well in his own career."
"We are grateful to Dudley Pratt for his contribution and commitment to our graduate business students," said UH Mānoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw. "The C. Dudley Pratt, Jr. Endowed Scholarship will provide working students with a unique opportunity to apply classroom learning with real business issues cultivating a new generation of leaders for Hawaiʻi."
If you are interested in supporting the Shidler College of Business or hearing more about current initiatives, contact Terry Wells, Assistant Vice President of Development at (808) 956-4215 or [email protected]
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The Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaiʻi 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 25 graduate schools for international business by U.S. News & World Report. 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 Hawaiʻi accredited by AACSB International. For more information, visit www.shidler.hawaii.edu.
The University of Hawaiʻi 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 matriculate in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas. For more information, visit http://manoa.hawaii.edu.
The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises private funds to support the University of Hawaiʻi System. Our mission is to unite our donors’ passions with the University of Hawaiʻi's aspirations to benefit the people of Hawaiʻi and beyond. We do this by raising private philanthropic support, managing private investments and nurturing donor and alumni relationships. www.uhfoundation.org.
