Regent

Benjamin Asa Kudo

Benjamin Kudo is a lawyer with Ashford & Wriston, LLP, which specializes in real property law and civil litigation.

Kudo is a 1968 graduate of ‘Iolani School and obtained his BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington (1972). He did his graduate work at the University of Hawai‘i where he obtained an MBA (1975) and PhD (2008) from the Shidler College of Business. Kudo also obtained a juris doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978.

Prior to beginning his legal career, Kudo held positions with two of Hawai‘i’s major agriculture and land development corporations. From 1973 to 1975, he served in several capacities, including that of application mechanical engineer for Hawaiian Equipment Co. and senior financial analyst for Oceanic Properties, Inc., subsidiaries of Castle & Cooke, Inc. In 1978, Kudo was employed by Amfac Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Amfac, Inc., as assistant vice president responsible for asset and property management.

He was previously the chief financial officer and the manager of the land use, administrative and environmental law group of law firm Imanaka Kudo & Fujimoto, where he headed the Pacific-Asia business practice for the law firm.

In addition to his law practice, Kudo served as an adjunct professor at the William S. Richardson School of Law teaching in the area of real property, land use and water law from 1990–2000. In 1994, Kudo was honored by the establishment of the Benjamin A. Kudo, Chair of Law (designated in the areas of land use, environmental and administrative law) at the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School of Law.

Kudo was an instructor with the master of human resources management program at the Shidler College of Business teaching labor law in 2008 and was a lecturer in business law at the University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu from 2009–2012.