UH System director of academic technologies receives prestigious award

Posted: Nov 20, 2009

HONOLULU - University of Hawaiʻi System Director of Academic Technologies Hae Okimoto was named the 2009 recipient of the Richard Jonsen Award for Service to the Educational Telecommunications Community. The Richard Jonsen Award recognizes a member of the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET) community for significant contributions to the e-learning field, innovative service to online learners and outstanding service to the WCET organization.

 

“Hae leads innovative educational technology initiatives for UH while showing the way for other colleges and universities” said David Lassner, vice president and chief information officer for the UH System. Russell Poulin, WCET’s new interim executive director added “Hae’s keen grasp of leadership skills, her years of first-hand experience in leading educational technology projects in higher education, her commitment to excellent service to support both faculty and students make Hae a most deserving recipient of the WCET’s highest honor in the e-learning field”.

 

Okimoto led the UH System campuses on its first statewide distance education initiative using interactive television in the late 1980s. Since then she has been leading the UH System in various open source learning and collaboration environments such as hybrid courses, distance learning and social networking. “Through all these years Hae has always maintained her good humor and grace while putting the needs of students and faculty first,” said Lassner.

 

The Richard Jonsen Award was established in 1998 to recognize the contributions of Richard (Dick) Jonsen, who, as Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s (WICHE) then-executive director founded the WCET.

 

For more information on WCET or WICHE visit www.wcet.info.com or www.wiche.edu.