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HONOLULU - Randolph Moore, University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents chair, and his wife Dr. Lynne Johnson, have made a $500,000 gift to create the Randolph G. Moore and Lynne Johnson Endowed Fund for Music. This endowment will support the Music Department at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa College of Arts and Humanities primarily in the area of Musicology.

University of Hawai‘i President David Lassner said, “We are immensely grateful to Randy and Lynne for this very generous gift, and the example they are setting for other leaders in our community. It is inspiring to see them supporting their life-long passion for education and community service through this endowment which will make a profound impact on the department and its students for years to come.”

College of Arts and Humanities Dean Peter Arnade added, “This generous endowment will greatly enrich the educational experience of our talented students by supporting guest lecturers, teaching staff support, master classes with guest artists, travel expenses for faculty and guest lecturers/artists, purchase of instruments and so much more.”

Born and raised in Honolulu, Randy Moore graduated from Punahou School, Swarthmore College and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. After two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in a public administration project in Liberia, Moore returned home to begin a 35-year business career that included executive positions with Castle and Cooke, Moloka‘i Ranch, and Kane‘ohe Ranch.

Randy has expressed his life-long passion for education and community service through his ubiquitous involvement in numerous educational institutions, non-profits, and for-profits businesses. After retiring from his leadership role as chief executive officer at Kane‘ohe Ranch in 2001, he completed a post-baccalaureate training at Chaminade University, and was licensed to teach secondary mathematics in the Hawai‘i public schools. He enjoyed teaching mathematics for three years at Central Middle School in Honolulu before being recruited by the superintendent of the Department of Education to become an administrator to support key educational initiatives. 

Moore has been very active as a volunteer leader in education. His service to the community includes 15 years, with 7 years as chair, on the Hanahau‘oli School board; 15 years on the Punahou School board where he also served as chair for several years; 15 years on the Hawai‘i Pacific University board; and two years as a public member on the Kainalu Elementary School School/Community Based Management (SCBM) Council.

Moore has been a director or trustee of a number of nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies and a member of government boards and commissions. He is currently board chair and director of the Hawaii Housing Development Corporation and a director of Grove Farm Company, Inc. He was also instrumental in the startup of the new Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra acting as its finance director from 2012 through 2013. Moore was appointed to the UH Board of Regents in 2013 and in 2014 was unanimously elected its chair.

Randy Moore said: "Everything at the University is worthy of support, but I wanted to give to music because of Lynne."

Dr. Lynne Johnson, received her BA from Colorado College and her Masters in Business, Masters in Musicology and Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Her career includes serving as an elementary school teacher in Washington State and Hawai‘i. She then worked as a curriculum planner with the Curriculum Research and Development Group at the University of Hawai‘I before becoming a fundraising consultant and then joining Hanahau‘oli School where she served as director of development.

She currently teaches courses in Music History at UH and an Opera Highlights Class through the UH Outreach College. She also gives Opera lanai lectures before the Hawaii Opera Theater Performances at Blaisdell Concert Hall and Pre-Opera talks at Doris Duke Theatre.

Johnson currently serves on multiple local nonprofit boards including Hawaii Opera Theater; Honolulu Academy of Arts aka Honolulu Museum of Art (where she was acting executive director for more than a year during an executive search); Honolulu Symphony Foundation and Mānoa Heritage Center. A former UH Foundation trustee,  Johnson’s history of serving Hawai‘i as a volunteer leader includes serving on the board of Chamber Music Hawaii; Cooke Foundation; Hawai‘i Pacific University; Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus; Honolulu Symphony Society and Mission Houses Museum to name a few.

Johnson has received numerous honors and awards including 2011 Volunteer in Philanthropy Honoree, Honolulu Academy of Arts, National Philanthropy Day; Musicology Awards from University of Hawai‘i; 2007 PBN Woman Community Leader of the Year Finalist;  1998 Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser: National Philanthropy Day and 1997 Leader Luncheon Honoree: YWCA of Oahu.

A published academic, Johnson’s list of publications include “Saint-Saëns’s 1878 Concert of Liszt’s Orchestral and Choral Works: A New Perspective” in Liszt et La France: Musique, Culture, et Société dans L’Europe du XIXe Siècle. France: Librairie Philosophique, 2012.

Music Department Chair Laurence Paxton shared, “Lynne’s passion for music shines through in her teaching and now through this tremendous personal philanthropic commitment. We are excited about what this endowment will empower our department to do! Thank you Lynne and Randy.”

Donna Vuchinich, UH Foundation president and CEO concluded, “The tremendous impact of Randy and Lynne’s careers and years of community service will be magnified and have rippling effects of benefit for decades to come thanks to their vision and foresight. We cannot thank them enough!”

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.

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The Music Department at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa offers programs of study which lead to degrees from the baccalaureate to the Ph.D. These programs accommodate a wide range of specializations within the field of music and allow the student access to the highest levels of study and training. All programs are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) and supported by a vibrant faculty actively engaged in teaching, traditional research, performance and composition. http://manoa.hawaii.edu/music/

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.