University of Hawai'i University Relations Media & Publications Honolulu, HI 96822	(808) 956-8856 Telephone (808) 956-3441 Facsimile ur@hawaii.edu E-Mail
For Immediate Release:	Dec. 17, 1997
Contact: Cheryl Ernst, (808) 956-5941

UH to award Regents' Medals of Distinction to five individuals   The University of Hawai'i Board of Regents (BOR) has selected five outstanding citizens to receive Regents' Medals of Distinction. The medals, which reward individuals of exceptional accomplishment and distinction who have made significant contributions to the University, state, region or nation or within their field of endeavor, will be presented during 1998. The awardees are listed below.   During 26 years as Honolulu Advertiser editor-in-chief, George Chaplin won national and international acclaim for outstanding reporting, writing and service in professional journalism organizations. He received an Order of the Rising Sun from Japan, Star of Solidarity from Italy and Prime Minister's Medal from Israel. Mr. Chaplin has chaired the East-West Center Board of Governors and served on the Research Corporation of the University of Hawai'i Board of Directors and numerous state councils and committees.   UH Emeritus Senior Professor of Entomologist D. Elmo Hardy is recognized for pioneering work on Hawaiian drosophilid flies that established UH as a world-class research institution in evolutionary biology and scholarship on other insects important to agro-ecosystems in Hawai'i. He contributed to the Insects of Hawai'i series that established UH Press as a premiere scholarly press and wrote many other scholarly works.   Hiroshi Tanaka is a community advocate for higher education and active supporter of Big Island economic development. He was a significant force in development of the UH Hilo campus and instrumental in obtaining adjacent state land for the high tech park that now houses several support facilities for astronomical research.   Retired Senator Mamoru Yamasaki holds the state record for legislative service-33 years. Described by colleagues and constituents as fair, honest, polite and humble, he was a proponent of ILWU programs and labor legislation, a staunch supporter of public education and higher education and an early champion of distance education.   Another entomologist with UH ties, Elwood Zimmerman was also a researcher, teacher and curator for Bishop Museum and the Hawai'i Sugar Planters' Association. He launched the Insects of Hawai'i series and published nine volumes treating 2,275 species-nearly half the known fauna. An early voice advocating conservation of our state's unique native ecology, Zimmerman is now senior entomologist with the Australian government.

-UH-