Garyn K. Tsuru, director of College and Career Readiness Initiatives at the University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu, was selected as one of Pacific Business News’ 40 Under 40 Class of 2017.
Honorees demonstrate business excellence at his or her business or organization, contribute to the overall success of his or her company or organization, stand out amongst peers and colleagues, display strong current and past community involvement and be 39 years of age and younger on June 10, 2017.
Tsuru directs UH West Oʻahu’s Early College High School (ECHS) Program which started with a partnership between Waipahu High School and the campus in 2012. It is one of the UH West Oʻahu’s primary means of providing baccalaureate level educational opportunities to secondary school partners who serve low-income youths, first-generation college goers and students who come from ethnic backgrounds largely underrepresented in higher education.
Since its inception, the ECHS Program has served hundreds of students, saving families, many from economically depressed communities, nearly $500,000 in tuition costs alone.
Tsuru, received his BS in psychology at UH Mānoa, his MS and PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and completed a research fellowship as a Monbusho Scholar at the Hiroshima University Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences. A former associate professor of psychology, he was awarded the Board of Regents’ Excellence in Teaching Medal in 2011.
—By Leila Wai Shimokawa
