You don’t have to look far to find a UH faculty hero. There’s probably one in your community on every UH campus, on every island. They may not be wearing capes and flying across the sky, but they may be rescuing humankind in other ways with life-saving scientific breakthroughs, social justice initiatives, and time-honored sustainable food practices.

Mahalo to those who have nominated the following UH professors as heroes as of August 2016. Watch for more details on these heroes. We invite you to nominate more heroes to add to our Hall of Hero Professors!

Current Nominees

• Lorna Arita-Tsutsumi, Professor of Agriculture at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, has been as busy as the bees she has studied for more than 30 years to improve crop production in Hawaii.
• If you want to see someone fired up about a topic, speak to David Duffy, a Botany Professor at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, who is studying the effects and habits of invasive fire ants.
• Through ethnomathematics, University of Hawai’i at Manoa Associate Professor of Mathematics Education Linda Furuto is successfully bridging traditional practices of the past with 21st century learning to show how we can successfully coexist in two worlds.
• Richard Jones, Associate Professor of Education at University of Hawai’i-West Oahu, is taking the mystery out of science, and making it more approachable, meaningful, and accessible for community organizations.
• Jerald “Kimo” Keaulani, Assistant Professor of Language at Honolulu Community College, has worked to maintain Hawaii’s beauty by preserving the significance of Hawaiian culture through hula and music for nearly two decades.
• Mark “Alapaki” Luke, Assistant Professor of Hawaiian studies at Honolulu Community College, leads the Taro Security and Purity Task Force to ensure taro and other plants that are critical to our island culture remain sustainable into the future.
• When it comes to advocating for improving the health status of our Native Hawaiian population through public health nursing, you can count on Kristine Qureshi, Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa to be your go-to resource for the community.
• Lee Stein, a Professor of Human Services at Maui Community College, has helped to change our world for the better. She is a valuable asset in the community—influencing policy and inspiring program services related to domestic violence, substance abuse, women incarcerated for drug-related crimes, and LBGT concerns.
• Lynn Nakamura-Tengan, a Professor in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at Maui Community College for nearly 30 years, has advanced food safety by reducing the risk factors and effects of foodborne illnesses.
• For the past 20 years, Dr. Kelly Withy, of the University of Hawai’i John A. Burns School of Medicine, has looked beyond traditional Western medicine, teaching medical students about complementary and alternative medicine while also looking after the needs of her patients.