About

HISTORY AND MISSION

Sun Yat-sen

The mission of The Foundation is to raise the public’s awareness of the important historical role Hawaii and its people played not only in the life of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the acknowledged Father of Modern China, but also in the founding of modern China.

This role included his attending high schools at what are now known as Iolani School and Punahou School from 1879-1883, and later in the critical voluntary financial and manpower support he received for the revolution leading to the overthrow of the last emperor of China. The revolution brought an end to the Manchu / Qing Dynasty and culminated in Dr. Sun becoming the first provisional President of the Republic of China in 1912.

The Dr. Sun Yat-sen Hawaii Foundation was formed as a non-profit in 1997. It researches, chronicles, documents and exhibits the important historical links between Dr. Sun and Hawaii’s people and institutions who made many contributions supporting him in his efforts to modernize China.

 

OFFICERS

Chairman: Mr. Warren Luke
President: Mr. Steven Ai
Executive Vice President: Ms. Yen Chun
Treasurer: Ms. Cynthia Ning
Secretary: Ms. Joanne Tachibana

 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

sunyatsen_board

Front row Left to Right: C. F. Damon Jr., Leigh-Wai Doo, Warren Luke, Yen Chun, Joanne Tachibana
Back row Left to Right: Ming Chen, Lucien Wong, Stanley Hong, Mang Mang Brown, Lisa Halvorson, Scott Wo, Bryan Luke

Not pictured are: Kenneth Chong, Carolyn Luke, Robert Lees, Steven Ai. Photo by K Russell Ho

Steven Ai  President of City Mill, Ltd. His grandfather, Chung Kun Ai, was a classmate of Dr. Sun at ‘Iolani School and an early supporter and an active member of his revolutionary organizations.

Ming Chen  details coming soon

Yen Chun – Experienced China business consultant. Emeritus Director of Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Trustee of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation in Beijing and Shanghai. Yen is grand-niece of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and has been working closely with the Foundations in China on cultural and educational exchange projects.

Leigh-Wai Doo is the founding President of the Sun Yat-Sen
Hawaii Foundation and the Foundation for the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies.  As a Honolulu City Councilmember, he led Hawaii in establishing its first Sister Relationships with PR China and became the first Honorary Citizen of the China Hainan Province and is the first recipient of the Hawaii State Bar Association Greeley Key Award.  He is descended from Naturalized Citizens of The Kingdom of Hawaii, later Americans, who helped shape the history of China and America.

Bryan Luke – Details coming soon

Warren K.K. Luke – Chairman and CEO of Hawaii National Bank, Chairman of the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council, Board of Governors of the Pacific Forum CSIS, Trustee for the Foundation for the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, Chairman Emeritus of the Pacific Basin Economic Council.  He is a Former Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, a Former Director of the American Bankers Association, a Former President of the Western Independent Bankers Association and the Hawaii Bankers Association, A Former National Director of the American Red Cross and the United Way of America.  He is also a Trustee of Punahou School, an Emeritus Trustee of Babson College, a Director of Harvard Business School’s Asia Pacific Advisory Board and an Emeritus Director of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.

Cynthia Ning – Retired from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Center for Chinese Studies. Author of ENCOUNTERS: CHINESE LANGUAGE & CULTURE, EXPLORING IN CHINESE, and COMMUNICATING IN CHINESE, all published by Yale University Press.

Joanne Tachibana – Retired Asst. Supervisor, Committee Services Division for the Honolulu City Council; President for the United Nations Association (UNA-USA) Hawaii Chapter;  President/Founder of Korean Culture and Drama Club; Emeritus Publications Bureau Chief & Community Relations Coordinator for SGI-USA Hawaii; Dame of Honor for the Knights of St. John.

Mangmang Qiu. Esq. has 30 years’ professional experience in international exchange and programs, in law, business and education.  A licensed attorney, she is currently the Senior Director for Development and Global Initiatives at the Hawaii Pacific University.

Scott Wo – Owner/Executive, C. S. Wo & Sons, Ltd. Vice Chair and past Treasurer, American Red Cross – Hawaii State Chapter; Investment Chair and past Treasurer, Aloha United Way; Investment Chair and past Board Chair and Treasurer, University of Hawaii Foundation; immediate past President, Waialae Country Club.

Lucien P. Wong – President and owner of Lucien Wong & Associates LLC a business consulting firm specializing in real estate development. Retired executive formerly with Lend Lease an Australian global company; Castle & Cooke one of Hawaii’s largest real estate companies; Kaiser Development Company master developer of Hawaii Kai. He is one of the original founders of the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Hawaii Foundation. Currently a director of: EAH a nonprofit affordable housing developer; HomeAid Hawaii and active with ULI’s UrbanPlan program.

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Kenneth Chong – Real estate developer and consultant, and past President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce (1996). His areas of activity include affairs concerning China-U.S. relations and Hawai’i’s Chinese Community.

Robert Lees – Executive Adviser, Asia and the Pacific for BearingPoint.

Carolyn Luke – Granddaughter of Luke Chan, a close friend and supporter of Dr. Sun who helped bring the Sun family to Hawai’i after the first Canton Uprising failed.