Core Faculty
Dennis M. Ogawa, Professor and Department Chair

Dennis M. Ogawa received his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1969 where he was honored as one of the founders of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. His teaching and research interests are in the area of Japanese American Studies, Television and Ethnic Identity, and Multicultural Studies.

Professor Ogawa’s books (a number of which are best sellers for the University of Hawaii Press) include Jan Ken Po: The World of Hawaii’s Japanese Americans, Kodomo No Tame Ni — For The Sake of The Children, and An Unlikely Revolutionary: Matsuo Takabuki and The Making of Modern Hawaii (assisted in autobiography). One of his writings, "From Japs to Japanese — Evolution of A Subculture," has been cited often as a pivotal essay in the founding of Asian American Film Studies. Scholar Darrel Hamamoto says it was "noteworthy for its seminal contribution to the formal discourse of controlling images in media."

Professor Ogawa also has published articles in journals such as The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Journal of Communications, and Journal of Black Studies.

In recognition of Professor Ogawa’s excellence in research, he has been invited as a Senior Fellow for both the East-West Center and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He also has been awarded National and International research grants from the Rockefeller Foundation; Office of Education, Ethnic Heritage Studies Program; National Endowment for the Humanities; and Hoso Bunka Foundation.

Professor Ogawa has been honored as a Danforth Associate for excellence in teaching; as an Invited Speaker by President Gerald Ford at the White House Conference on Ethnicity and Education; and as Keynote Speaker, Memorial Address, AJA Veterans National Convention Memorial Service, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl.

In terms of community service, Professor Ogawa has been Vice Chairperson, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii; Director, Olelo, Public Access Television; Director, Hawaii International Film Festival; Commissioner, Okinawan Centennial Celebration, appointed by Governor George Ariyoshi; and Trustee State Foundation on History and the Humanities, appointed by Governor John Burns.

Professor Ogawa was honored as a Distinguished Historian by the Hawaiian
Historical Society in 1992.

Currently, Professor Ogawa is serving as the Chair, American Studies Department, University of Hawaii and as the General Editor for the University of Hawaii Press book series on the Nisei. He also is assisting the Japanese American National Museum on numerous projects.