Newsmaker
Monday, March 16, 1998
Name: Stanford B.C. Yuen
Age: 55
Education: UH, Pepperdine University, USC
Occupation: Navy deputy engineer
Award: Engineer of the Year
Stanford Yuen, Hawaii's 1998 Engineer of the Year, grew up in Chinatown and has worked for the federal government for nearly 25 years. Building for Navy and isles
Despite many other awards, Yuen says this one is very important: "This has to be one of the more significant awards because it deals with the local community -- the people that I work with on a daily basis, that I have gone to school with and who I respect very much."
As deputy engineer for facilities at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Yuen oversees the $80 million Ford Island bridge construction scheduled to open in mid-April; the development of Ford Island, at a cost estimated at $500 million; and the mooring of the battleship USS Missouri.
Yuen also is handling the closure of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station in 1999 and is involved in the planning of a sports complex on the Waipio peninsula, construction of a veterans center on Navy land, and restoration and preservation of Hawaiian fishponds in Pearl Harbor.
The 1960 St. Louis High School graduate was named as the federal professional employee of the year in 1997, recognized as the professional engineer of the year by the Air Force in a worldwide competition in 1981, and named Hawaii's federal manager of the year in 1980.
Since 1996, Yuen has been the president of the Lung Doo Benevolent Society, a charitable and social organization in the Chinese community, and developed and implemented programs to help make Chinatown a clean and safe place.
Last year there even was a city proclamation recognizing him, with a day set aside in his honor for his outstanding achievement as a Chinese American.
Yuen is married to the former Lynette Leong, a schoolteacher at Lilioukalani School. They have three daughters.
Gregg K. Kakesako, Star-Bulletin
