Studying CyclonesResearchers use a computer atmosphere simulation model to study lifecycles of tropical cyclones. Read more
Promoting College ReadinessThe Hawai'i P-20 Partnerships for Education runs a multimedia campaign with Olympian Bryan Clay. Read moreSolar PowerManoa’s Shidler College of Business installs solar panels to advance sustainability. Read more
UH People in PrintManoa’s Katelyn Allers, Gregory Bruland, Christopher Lepczyk, Michael Liu, Jonathan Williams and Shang Ping Xie and Hilo’s Barbara Leonard, William Mautz, Emmeline de Pillis, David Sing and Miyako Warrington. Read moreKudosKapi'olani’s Carl Hefner, Manoa’s Christopher Lepczyk and Hilo’s Christopher Lu, Kalani Makekau-Whittaker and John Pezzuto. Read more
In Memoriam
Manoa Professor Emeritus John DeFrancis passed away Jan. 2 in Honolulu at the age of 97. A professor of Chinese studies and influential author of Chinese language text and resource books, he was revising his seminal beginning Chinese readers at the time of his death. During the Great Depression, DeFrancis traveled to Bejing, where he met his wife Kay, studied Chinese and traced the route of Genghis Khan. He returned to Yale as the university's first PhD student in Chinese studies.
McCarthyism cost DeFrancis his job as assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, but he eventually returned to academia to produce the widely used "DeFrancis series" of Chinese language textbooks. He joined the Manoa faculty in 1966 and chaired the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures from 1966–1976.
DeFrancis worked 10 years without compensation to produce the unprecedented ABC (Alphabetically Based Computerized) Chinese-English Dictionary. All royalties from the series were donated to the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Chinese Studies to support work on successive editions. His philanthropy also supported Manoa's Center for Chinese Studies and human rights organizations.
A memorial website has been established for him, and a memorial service will be held, Sun., Jan. 18, 3 p.m., at Manoa’s Center for Korean Studies auditorium.