{"id":230579,"date":"2026-03-10T14:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T00:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=230579"},"modified":"2026-03-10T14:25:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T00:25:53","slug":"in-memoriam-colleen-hanabusa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/10\/in-memoriam-colleen-hanabusa\/","title":{"rendered":"In memoriam: UH<\/abbr> alumna and former U.S.<\/abbr> Rep. Colleen Hanabusa"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
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Colleen Hanabusa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> community mourns the loss of distinguished alumna and trailblazing political leader Colleen Hanabusa, who passed away in March.<\/p>\n

Born and raised on the Leeward Coast in Waiʻanae<\/span>, Hanabusa was a proud three-time graduate of UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span>. She earned her bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees from the university before receiving her law degree from the William S. Richardson School of Law<\/a> in 1977, which launched her early career as a labor attorney.<\/p>\n

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Hanabusa (far right) attends Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching in 2011.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her dedication to the university and its students continued later in her career. In December 2015, the UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> College of Social Sciences announced Hanabusa\u2019s selection as Lecturer and Daniel K. Inouye Visiting Scholar<\/a>. Taking on a joint appointment between the public policy center and the political science department, she taught a spring 2016 course focused on civil liberties in times of crisis.<\/p>\n

Hanabusa\u2019s statewide legacy in public service is historic. She served in the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> State Senate from 1999 to 2010, representing her home community on the Waiʻanae<\/span> Coast. During this time, she made history as the first woman to serve as president of the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> State Senate, known for wielding her power collaboratively to support her community. She then represented Â鶹´«Ã½\u2019s<\/span> 1st Congressional District in the U.S.<\/abbr> House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015, and again from 2016 to 2019.<\/p>\n

Hanabusa is remembered for her effectiveness in strengthening national defense, preserving natural resources, advancing Native Hawaiians, and protecting civil rights. After her time in Congress, she continued her public service as chair of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board.<\/p>\n

To honor her decades of dedicated service, Gov. Josh Green ordered U.S.<\/abbr> and Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> state flags to be flown at half-staff statewide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UH<\/abbr> community mourns the loss of distinguished alumna and trailblazing political leader Colleen Hanabusa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":230581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[756,9,68],"class_list":["post-230579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-in-memoriam","tag-uh-manoa","tag-william-s-richardson-school-of-law","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t