{"id":233200,"date":"2026-04-29T12:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T22:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=233200"},"modified":"2026-04-29T15:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T01:08:20","slug":"2026-uh-manoa-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/29\/2026-uh-manoa-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating campuswide excellence at 2026 M\u0101noa Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Manoa-top-35-campus-beauty.jpg\" alt=\"Rainbow over Kennedy Theater\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-232575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Manoa-top-35-campus-beauty.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Manoa-top-35-campus-beauty-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Manoa-top-35-campus-beauty-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The University of <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa will celebrate the exceptional achievements of its faculty, staff and students at the 2026 <a href=\"http:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\"><abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Awards Ceremony<\/a>, set for May 5 at 3 p.m. in Kennedy Theatre.<\/p>\n<p><abbr>UH<\/abbr> President Wendy Hensel, <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Interim Provost Vassilis Syrmos and Board of Regents Chair Gabe Lee will recognize this year\u2019s honorees for their outstanding accomplishments.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/itunesu\/vlive\/?s=manoaawards.sdp\">A live video stream of the event will be available<\/a> for those unable to attend in-person.<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations to all our winners!<\/p>\n<h2>2026 <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Awards winners<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#regents-teaching\">Board of Regents Medal for Excellence in Teaching<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cheehyung Harrison Kim, associate professor, history<\/li>\n<li>Miyoko Teddy Pettit-Toledo, assistant professor, law<\/li>\n<li>Subhashni Raj, assistant professor, urban and regional planning<\/li>\n<li>Eirik J. Saethre, professor, anthropology<\/li>\n<li>Tamara Ticktin, professor, botany<\/li>\n<li>Kara Noelani Wong Ramsey, associate professor, pediatrics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#regents-research\">Board of Regents Medal for Excellence in Research<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nicolas Gaillard, associate researcher, <span lang=\"haw\">O&#699;ahu<\/span> Natural Energy Institute<\/li>\n<li>Joseph <span lang=\"haw\">Keawe&#699;aimoku<\/span> Kaholokula, professor, Native Hawaiian health<\/li>\n<li>Victor M. Lubecke, professor, electrical and computer engineering<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#davis-undergrad\">Frances Davis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lisa M. Vallin, instructor, women, gender, and sexuality studies\n<\/li>\n<li>Lolita Perez-Ayala, graduate assistant, communication and information sciences<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#clopton-service\">Robert W. Clopton Award for Distinguished Community Service<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Yoshimi (Shimi) M. Rii, assistant specialist, <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Institute for Marine Biology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#meritorious-teaching\">Presidential Citation for Meritorious Teaching<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ethan Caldwell, associate professor, ethnic studies<\/li>\n<li>Jane Chung-Do, professor, public health<\/li>\n<li>Jeffrey Drazen, professor, oceanography<\/li>\n<li>J. Lorenzo Perillo, associate professor, theatre and dance<\/li>\n<li>Cathi Ho Schar, associate professor, architecture<\/li>\n<li>N. <span lang=\"haw\">Ha&#699;alilio<\/span> Solomon, assistant professor, Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#outstanding-service\">Presidential Award for Outstanding Service<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Michelle Myrie, deputy chief, Department of Public Safety<\/li>\n<li>Earl Matsushita, work coordination center manager, Campus Operations and Facilities<\/li>\n<li>Evelyn Mangadlao, janitor, Campus Operations and Facilities<\/li>\n<li>Dina Shek, director, Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#staff-excellence\">Jean Takamura Staff Excellence Award<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Karen Harper, fiscal officer, <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Institute of Marine Biology<\/li>\n<li>Paula MacCutcheon, operations coordinator, Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office<\/li>\n<li>Roy Suda, IT specialist, Enrollment Management<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#garrod-mentoring\">Peter V. Garrod Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Merle R. Kataoka-Yahiro, professor, nursing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#academic-advisor\">Pakela Award for Outstanding Academic Advisor<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lauren Prepose-Forsen, director, M\u0101noa Transfer Coordination Center<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#faculty-excellence-mentoring\"><abbr>OVPRS<\/abbr> Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research and Creative Work<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>John G. Souza, assistant professor, family and consumer sciences<\/li>\n<li>Tianlu Wang, assistant professor, mechanical engineering<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#student-research\">Student Excellence in Research Award<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dhvanil Desai, <abbr title=\"doctor of philosophy\">PhD<\/abbr> candidate, astronomy<\/li>\n<li>Sophia Rahnke, <abbr>PhD<\/abbr> candidate, marine biology<\/li>\n<li>Jannatun Noor Sameera, <abbr>PhD<\/abbr> candidate, electrical and computer engineering<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/president\/awards\/2026-receipients\/#student-employee\">Student Employee of the Year<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kate Sapigao, lead student mentor, GEAR UP M\u0101noa<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/chancellor\/awards\/\">See the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa  Awards page for a complete list of winner biographies.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Awards Ceremony will be held on May 5, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":232575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[142,1092,1091,1093,598,698,660,9],"class_list":["post-233200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-award","tag-bor-medal-research","tag-bor-medal-teaching","tag-davis-award","tag-faculty-recognition","tag-staff-recognition","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Manoa-top-35-campus-beauty.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233200"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233348,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233200\/revisions\/233348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}