(Honolulu, Hawaiʻi) — Ulrike and Toufiq Siddiqi recently donated $60,000 to establish The Ulrike and Toufiq Siddiqi Student Travel Endowment at the UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business to enhance students’ education and understanding of South and Southeast Asia. The endowment will be used for airfare, meals, lodging, conference fees and research.
"We established this travel endowment for exceptional students who have the curiosity, but lack the financial resources to study abroad," said Ulrike and Toufiq Siddiqi. "We want to encourage students to travel abroad so they can develop a better understanding of issues affecting South and Southeast Asia."
"Ulrike and Toufiq have been longtime supporters of the College giving annually since 1994," said V. Vance Roley, dean of the Shidler College of Business. "Because of their research, educational initiatives and leadership activities in Asia and the Pacific, the Siddiqis truly understand the importance of studying abroad. This travel endowment is a wonderful way to enrich students' international perspective of the world we live in."
"We are grateful to the Siddiqis for their generous support of higher education," said UH Mānoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw. "The Ulrike and Toufiq Siddiqi Student Travel Endowment will provide students with an invaluable opportunity to learn and experience Asian business and culture first-hand."
The Siddiqis came to the U.S. in 1967 via Germany where Ulrike was born and raised. Dr. Siddiqi joined the faculty at Indiana University where he contributed to the founding of the Environmental Studies Program and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Ulrike pursued a successful career with PHIL Marc Inc., a medical facilities company, as comptroller and assistant administrator.
In 1977, the Siddiqis moved to Hawaiʻi where Dr. Siddiqi joined the East-West Center's Environment Program. He is currently an adjunct senior fellow in the research program at the East-West Center, and adjunct graduate faculty in the geography department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Previously, Dr. Siddiqi served as the regional advisor on energy at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) from 1995-97, in Bangkok, Thailand. He was a consultant to the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was also a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2007. He was the first visiting senior fellow at the Global Environment Facility in Washington, DC, working on climate change issues. In 1997, the Siddiqis co-founded Global Environment and Energy in the 21st Century (GEE-21), a non-profit research organization.
Dr. Siddiqi received a BA (Honours) from Trinity College, Cambridge University, England and a doctorate in nuclear physics from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.
In 1979, Ulrike enrolled in the Executive MBA program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Soon after graduating in 1981, she pursued her entrepreneurial passion by investing with partners in Bakery Europa. The company was sold in 1990, but Ulrike stayed on as president of the firm's real estate subsidiary, Europa Holdings Inc, through 2004. In 1981, Ulrike joined the MBA Alumni Board and later assisted in the creation of the College's first mentor program for graduate students. She later assisted in the merger of the undergraduate and MBA alumni groups into one Alumni Association, growing it to the largest in the UH system. She continued to stay active in alumni/students relations until 2004. Ulrike volunteers for the Friends of the East-West Center, and for the past 13 years for the Pan Pacific and Southeast Asia Women's Association. She has served as international treasurer on the council of the association since 2007.
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. 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.
