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Dick Pratt with Khon Kaen University dignitaries
Dick Pratt (3rd from right) honored in a ceremony held at Khon Kaen University in Thailand.

Dick Pratt, professor emeritus of Public Administration and senior advisor to the dean on international and community programs for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Social Sciences, was awarded an honorary doctorate of public affairs and public management in a ceremony held at Khon Kaen University in Thailand.

“This award recognizes Dick’s on-going work in developing a long-term, productive relationship between the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Khon Kaen University. We greatly value our enduring relationship with Khon Kaen and look forward to deepening this connection with one of Thailand’s leading public research university,” said Denise Eby Konan, dean of the College of Social Sciences.

These relationships continue to build and reflect the college’s commitment to fostering strong international programs.

  • UH Mānoa, the East-West Center and Khon Kaen University have joined together to create a program that is anticipated to bring five Khon Kaen University faculty a year to the UH Mānoa campus to pursue their doctorates beginning fall 2016
  • Mongolia’s National Academy of Governance and Germany’s Potsdam University joined participants from Hawaiʻi for an international conference exploring factors affecting the development of energy and mineral resources in Hawaiʻi, Mongolia and Germany. Papers from the conference, which was sponsored by UH Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences in partnership with the School of Pacific and Asian Studies, can be found here.

Khon Kaen University is a public research university. Established in 1964, it is the leading educational and learning center in the northeastern part of Thailand. Home to 40,000 students, Khon Kaen University offers 340 study programs including 101 undergraduate programs, 138 master’s programs, 77 doctoral programs and 24 graduate programs.

About Dick Pratt

Dick Pratt

Born and raised in Southern California, Pratt received a University of California at Riverside, an MA in educational administration from the University of Denver and a PhD in political science from UH Mānoa.

Pratt’s areas of research and application focus on change and innovation in public organizations, local level public leadership in Southeast Asia and Hawaiʻi’s energy independence initiative. He is the editor of Perspectives on the Development of Energy and Mineral Resources-Hawaiʻi, Mongolia and Germany; co-editor of Successes at the Local Level in ASEAN Countries and co-author of “Reflections on Leadership at the Local Level and the Future of Laos.”

Pratt has worked with a number of universities in Asia and North America and is a founding member of the International Association for Local Government.

He previously received an honorary doctorate from the National Academy of Governance in Mongolia for work there.

—By Lisa Shirota

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