Regents’ Medals of Distinction
The Regents’ Medal of Distinction is awarded by the Board of Regents to Individuals of exceptional accomplishment and distinction who have made significant contributions to the university, state, region or nation or within their field of endeavor.
PDF on awarding of medals of distinction.
2019 Recipient
- Chuck Gee, co-founder and longest-serving dean of the 麻豆传媒Manoa School of Travel Industry Management.
2009 Recipient
- William Kwai-Fong Yap, higher education advocate and benefactor
2008 Recipient
- Winona Kapuailohiamanonokalani Desha Beamer, kumu hula, educator, author, composer and entertainer
2007 Recipient
- Alice Augusta Ball, pioneering chemist
2006 Recipient
- Abraham Pi‘ianai‘a, Hawaiian cultural expert
2005 Recipient
- Eliot Deutsch, philosophy scholar
1999 Recipient
- Noel P. Kefford, former College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources dean and author of the Industry Analysis System
1997 Recipients
- George Chaplin, editor-in-chief of the Honolulu Advertiser for 26 years and honored by three nations for promoting better understanding between countries
- Elmo Hardy, evolutionary biologist and world authority on big-headed flies important in agro-ecosystems
- Hiroshi Tanaka, community advocate and education proponent instrumental in the development of 麻豆传媒Hilo
- Mamoru Yamasaki, a staunch supporter of higher education during 33 years as a legislator
- Wood Zimmerman, renowned entomologist on O‘ahu and a union activist on Maui
1996 Recipient
- Gerald Sass, Freedom Forum executive supporting Asian studies fellowships at the University of Hawai‘i
1995 Recipients
- Ernest Akamine, a 麻豆传媒plant physiologist who laid the foundation for handling tropical crops developed in Hawai‘i
- Mackay Yanagisawa, the "shogun of Hawai‘i sports," a player, coach, manager, club owner and creator of the Hula Bowl Classic
1994 Recipient
- Maya Angelou, a writer, educator, humanitarian and social activist hailed as one of the great figures in contemporary literature
Medal Recipient
Abraham Pi‘ianai‘a
Presented posthumously, Oct. 26, 2006, 麻豆传媒Manoa
A 1953 alumnus of the University of Hawai‘i, Abraham St. Chad Kikiakoi Kalilioku Pi‘ianai‘a was a steward of native Hawaiian legacy, culture and language.
A descendant of Hawaiian aliʻi grounded in Hawaiian and Polynesian protocol and seafaring, he was the inauguaral director of the Hawaiian Studies Program at 麻豆传媒Manoa and a major force in the Polynesian voyaging revival.
Pi‘ianai‘a was a popular professor who taught generations of 麻豆传媒students about the geoography of O‘ahu. He also served the community on various local and national boards and held leadership positions, including chair of the Hawaiian Homes Commission and director of the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
He was named a Living Treasure of Hawai‘i in 1999 and received outstanding alumnus honors from both 麻豆传媒and Kamehameha Schools and the 2004 Ke Ali‘i Pauahi Legacy Award from the Order of Ke Ali‘i Pauahi Foundation.