Dewey Hongwoo Kim Sr., who broke new career paths for Korean Americans and helped to establish the University of Hawaii Foundation and the Center for Korean Studies, died at a hospital on Oahu on Sept. 1. He was 88.

“Sixty years ago, Dewey was one of the founders of the UH Foundation. The foundation continues his efforts as we are able to celebrate the more than $1 billion in donations from private philanthropy for UH. Dewey was a great ambassador for all of us,” said foundation president and CEO Donna Vuchinich.

“He was a good man, a good friend and a good fundraiser. I can’t say enough about Dewey’s contribution toward helping to establish the Center for Korean Studies,” said its first director, Dae-Sook Suh.

About $1.8 million in public and private funds was raised in 1972 for the Korean Studies Center on the UH Manoa campus.

The son of a political exile who supported Korean independence, Kim was born in Washington, D.C.

As a child he moved to Hawaii with his parents, after his father, Henry Cu Kim, became editor of the Korean Herald newspaper in Honolulu.

Kim attended public schools and graduated with honors from the University of Hawaii in 1950, before working for the IRS, first in Honolulu, then in Washington.

The family said the IRS gave Kim its first paid graduate study award to attend the Maxwell School of Public Administration at Syracuse University, where he earned a master’s degree and received the Hugh D. Ingersoll Prize for his scholarship.

He worked at the University of Hawaii as a specialist and associate dean of continuing education in 1968, eventually rising to become assistant vice president of academic affairs and chancellor of community colleges.

Kim received the UH Distinguished Alumni Award and the UH Founders Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994.

His family said that for decades, Kim served as a director at a couple of savings and loan associations, at a time when there were few if any Korean Americans on their boards.

In 2006, he was honored by the Korean Centennial Committee as an Outstanding Korean American.

Kim’s older sister, Nora Chung, said family members including Dewey Kim were influenced by their father Henry’s talks about listening to others and respecting their point of view, even if you disagree.

The family said these skills allowed people working with Dewey Kim to appreciate that he was listening carefully to them and that he was learning, too.

He is survived by his second wife, Marian Wong; daughter Melissa Kim Mosher (Hugh Mosher); son Michael Lee Kim (Patty Kim); sister Nora Hongchu Kim Chung; brother Henry Hongeui Kim; and grandchildren Dee Mosher, Whitney Kim, Mariah Kim, Andy Kim, Randy Kim and Sandi Kim.

Services take place on Oct. 15 at UH Manoa, with visitation at the Newman Center at 2 p.m. followed by a Mass at 3 p.m. A celebration of life takes place at 4 p.m. at the Center for Korean Studies.