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The University of Hawaii at Hilo recognized four people Feb. 22 at its 13th annual Distinguished Alumni and Service Awards Banquet at the UH-Hilo Campus Center.
This year’s Distinguished Alumni honorees are Eric Matsumoto, Larry Kimura and Valerie Takata. The Distinguished Service honoree is Gerald De Mello.
Matsumoto is the 16th bishop of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, the state’s largest Buddhist denomination. A native of Honaunau, he is a graduate of Konawaena High School and a recipient of the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship.
Kimura, a UH-Hilo assistant professor of Hawaiian language and culture, is recognized as grandfather of the movement to perpetuate the use of Hawaiian language in modern Hawaii. He is co-founder of the Punana Leo Hawaiian Language Immersion Schools.
Takata is the state Department of Education complex-area superintendent for the Hilo and Waiakea District. As principal of Keonepoko Elementary School, she was selected as the state’s National Distinguished Principal.
De Mello was director of university relations at UH-Hilo for the past 21 years. He helped to establish the North Hawaii Education and Resource Center, the College of Pharmacy, a new College of Hawaiian Language building and the Student Housing Complex University Village.