John D’Amato and Kristina Inn, two alumni from the Department of Anthropology in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences (CSS), have established a $1 million endowment to honor two of their former professors: Jacob “Jack” Bilmes and Alice Dewey.
"Both Jack and Alice were kind, generous and devoted to their students,” said D’Amato (PhD ’86, MA ’77 Mānoa), a retired benefits lawyer and partner at D'Amato & Maloney, LLP. “I feel an obligation to honor their legacy and their contributions to anthropological academia.”
The Jacob “Jack” Bilmes Endowed Professorship in Cultural Anthropology will support the research and education goals of a faculty member whose work is concerned with the study of human societies and cultures, and their development. A prolific writer, Bilmes was the author of “Discourse and Behavior” and “The Structure of Meaning in Talk: Explorations in Category Analysis.”
Bilmes also published various scholarly articles on a range of subjects, including microanalysis of verbal interaction, ethnomethodology, narrative, public policy, social theory, Thai social organization and discourse, and ‘‘occasioned semantics,’’ focusing on structures of meaning in actual, interactive talk.
“We are deeply honored by this extraordinary gift, the largest single donation in the Department of Anthropology's history," said Denise Eby Konan, dean, UH Mānoa College of Social Sciences. "It celebrates the remarkable contributions of our esteemed faculty, Jacob Bilmes and Alice Dewey, who have profoundly impacted the lives of their students.”
The Graduate Student Endowment, in honor of Alice Dewey, will help defray a student’s costs associated with attendance, including tuition, books, fees and travel for research on cultural anthropology, biological anthropology and/or archeology.
Dewey was an economic anthropologist who studied peasant societies, and social structures and change. A compassionate and empathetic mentor, she opened her Mānoa home rent-free to graduate students with one stipulation: they had to prepare one meal per week for the household.
“This gift not only recognizes the excellence of our faculty, but also addresses the vital needs of our graduate students,” Konan said. “It stands as a powerful testament to the importance of our programs and the lasting influence they have on our community. We are profoundly grateful for this generous investment, which will support our faculty and students for generations to come and leave a lasting legacy of inspiration and opportunity.”
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