I hope this column will be cited for many errors of omission, yet I'm tackling it anyway. Letters to the editor may help fill it out. Local graduates
who made it elsewhereI have been trying to identify local school graduates of non-Caucasian backgrounds who are successes outside Hawaii. I exclude entertainers and athletes because they are many and well known.
Gov. John A. Burns included this passage in his 1969 State of the State speech: "To be perfectly candid, I sense among some members of our community - particularly those who are descended from our immigrant plantation workers - a subtle 'inferiority of spirit' which is totally unwarranted and which becomes for them a social and psychological handicap in life." Nuts, he in effect added. Our people are rich in diverse cultures and can succeed anywhere.
I asked myself, what is the evidence of success to support Burns? It starts, of course, with one of the most powerful members of the U.S. Senate - Daniel K. Inouye, McKinley High '42. Also from McKinley: Frederick F.K. Pang '54, assistant secretary of defense; Robert H. Iwai '54, CIA director of security. From Kauai High, Eric Shinseki, three-star Army general working on operations and plans.
Add Farrington High's George Akita, '44, a foremost researcher of Japanese political history, honored by the emperor and given a rare invitation to address the Diet. Further from Farrington: Ray S. Tsuchiyama, director of emerging market development for Analog Device K.K., Tokyo; Wallace Tsuha '61, and Alan Thompson '68, owners of electronics companies in Rochester Hills, Mich., and Stockton, Calif.
Roosevelt High's Charlene S. Shimada, '72, managing partner for 140 lawyers in the San Francisco office of a national law firm, McCutcheon, Doyle, Brown and Emerson. Radford's David Yoshihara, '75, commanding the guided missile cruiser USS Ticonderoga.
From Iolani - Randall K. C. Kam, Iolani, '66, wooed this year by Zurich Insurance Group in New York City to help expand its risk management product offerings; Edward Sakamoto, '58, a successful playwright based in Monterey Park, Calif.; the Rev. Canon Richard S. O. Chang, '59, who was deputy administrative officer for the national Episcopal Church, based in New York, before he returned here as bishop of Hawaii; Theodore W. J. Wong, '47, senior vice president of Hughes Aircraft and president of Missiles Systems Group; and Christopher P. Lee, '75, executive vice president of production for Tri-Star, Los Angeles.
The Kamehameha Schools - U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, '42, Isabella Aiona Abbott, '37, a renowned biologist specializing in seaweeds; Abraham T. K. Cockett, '46, chairman of the Department of Urology at Rochester's School of Medicine and Dentistry; Brig. Gen. David Cooper, '59, president of Pacific American Foundation; Clyde S. DuPont, '51, commissioner of the United States Postal Rate Commission; Professor Dennis Gonsalves, '61, plant pathologist at Cornell University; Dr. Gary Gutcher, '62, director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Medical College of Virginia; Hamilton T. McCubbin, '59, dean of the School of Family Resources and Consumer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin; Capt. Alvin Pauole, the only Hawaiian to command a nuclear-powered warship; J. Arthur Rath, '49, a marketing consultant and teacher at Syracuse University.
PUNAHOU School taught William Ouchi, '61, economist, author and now chief of staff to the mayor of Los Angeles; Dr. Edison Miyakawa Jr., '75, now a part-owner of the Cincinnati Bengals; and Ken Kam, '78, manager of the top-performing Interactive Investments Technology Value Fund.
University of Hawaii Travel Industry Management successes outside Hawaii include Clyde Min, general manager of the Polynesian Resort at Disney World in Orlando; Brent Lee, regional sales manager of United Air, San Francisco; and Roberta Wong Leong, senior lecturer at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
To fit my short column I've also had to exclude many teachers, professional and retired people called to my attention. It's clear Governor Burns was right: Our young people can set their sights high and succeed anywhere.