IAFOR > The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii (IICEHawaii) > IICEHawaii2019 > Speakers

Speakers

The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii (IICEHawaii) is a multidisciplinary conference held concurrently with The IAFOR International Conference on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment – Hawaii (IICSEEHawaii). Keynote, Featured and Spotlight Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds. Registration for either of these conferences permits attendance in both.

This page provides information about presenters. For details of presentations and other programming, please visit the Programme page.

Keynote Speakers

  • Christina M. Kishimoto
    Christina M. Kishimoto
    Hawaii State Department of Education, USA
  • David Lassner
    David Lassner
    University of Hawai‘i, USA
  • Richard R. Vuylsteke
    Richard R. Vuylsteke
    East-West Center, USA

Featured Speakers

  • Uncle Bruce Yoshio Keaulani
    Uncle Bruce Yoshio Keaulani
    Living Life Source Foundation
  • Aunty Kehaulani Lum
    Aunty Kehaulani Lum
    Living Life Source Foundation
  • Amanda Müller
    Amanda Müller
    Flinders University, Australia
  • Keiichi Ogawa
    Keiichi Ogawa
    Kobe University, Japan

Previous Speakers

View details of speakers at past IICEHawaii conferences via the links below.

IICEHawaii2018 IICEHawaii2017 IICEHawaii2016
Christina M. Kishimoto
Hawaii State Department of Education, USA

Dr Christina M. Kishimoto began a three-year contract as superintendent on August 1, 2017. She is responsible for efficiently and effectively administering the Hawaii public school system in accordance with law and educational policies adopted by the Board of Education. On October 3, 2017, Dr Kishimoto presented an Implementation Plan to advance the goals of the DOE/BOE Strategic Plan. Her plan is targeted around three high impact strategies: School Design, Student Voice, and Teacher Collaboration.

Dr Kishimoto is a former Superintendent and Chief Executive Officer for Gilbert Public Schools in Gilbert, Arizona, a district with an enrollment of 36,500 students and an annual budget of $305 million. She also served as Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of School Design at Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut, was the Founder and Director of The Center for School Improvement & Leadership Development at Area Cooperative Education Services, and Assistant Dean of Student Services for Wesleyan University. She earned a Doctorate in Education Administration from Columbia University Teachers College, a Master of Public Administration in Public Affairs and Policy from the University of Connecticut, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Barnard College.

Keynote Presentation (2019) | Presentation information will be added here shortly
David Lassner
University of Hawai‘i, USA

Biography

David Lassner is the 15th president of the University of Hawai‘i and concurrently serves as the Chancellor of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He has worked at the university since 1977, and was most recently its vice president for information technology and chief information officer. Lassner is also a member of the university’s cooperating graduate faculty and has taught both online and in-person in computer science, communications, business and education.

In his prior positions Lassner played an active leadership role in a variety of local, national and international information and communications technology organizations. He served on the boards of Hawai‘i’s High Technology Development Corporation and Public Broadcasting Service affiliate and he chaired the state’s Broadband Task Force. Lassner also served on the board of Internet2 and was a co-founder and board member of the Kuali Foundation, a founding steering committee member and past-chair of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) cooperative and past chair of the boards of the Pacific Telecommunications Council and of EDUCAUSE, the major professional association for information technology in higher education.

He is currently a WICHE commissioner, a board member for the National Association of System Heads (NASH), and on Board of Governors of the East-West Center. He also serves on the boards of the Aloha United Way and the Blood Bank of Hawai‘i.

Lassner led Hawai‘i’s major statewide federally funded project that interconnected all public schools, libraries and campuses on six islands with fiber optics and is an active principal investigator with the National Science Foundation, from which he has received multiple grants over the past 20 years focused on research and education networking and cyberinfrastructure. He is principal investigator for the Maui High Performance Computing Center and for the Pacific Disaster Center, major Department of Defense programs on Maui.

Lassner earned an AB in economics summa cum laude and MS in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a PhD in communication and information sciences from the University of Hawai‘i. He has been recognized with Internet2’s Richard Rose Award, WCET’s Richard Jonsen Award and as a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Hawai‘i.

Keynote Presentation (2018) | Presentation information will be added shortly
Richard R. Vuylsteke
East-West Center, USA

Biography

Dr Richard R. Vuylsteke (pronounced VUL-stek) took office as the East-West Center’s 11th Chief Executive on January 1, 2017. A former EWC grantee and staff member, he rejoined the Center after several decades living in Asia and serving most recently as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Previously he served as President of the American Chamber in Taipei, Editor-in-Chief of the Taiwan Review, and Area Studies Coordinator for the US Department of State Foreign Service Institute in Taipei. Earlier in his career, he was a research fellow in East Asian Legal Studies at Harvard Law School as well as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Rajasthan, India.

Originally from Illinois, and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Illinois College, Dr Vuylsteke was an East-West Center grantee in the 1970s while he earned MA and PhD degrees from the University of Hawai`i at Manoa, specializing in Western and Chinese political philosophy. While still a graduate student he joined the Center’s staff as a research assistant to the Director of the Culture Learning Institute, and later worked as a special assistant to the EWC president with focus on Pacific Community topics. In addition, he taught courses at the University of Hawai'i and Chaminade University in Asian history and social, political and legal philosophy. He also worked at the Pacific Forum (now Pacific Forum/CSIS).

Prior to graduate school, he served three years in the US Army, leaving active duty as a 1st Lieutenant. While in the service, he was stationed in Hawai’i at the US Army Pacific Command (USARPAC) as Chief of the China Desk and later seconded to CINCPAC (now PACOM) as Chief of the Soviet Far East Desk.

His areas of expertise include strategic and operational leadership of multicultural organisations; Asia Pacific business and trade, and Asian and Western history and philosophy.

Dr Vuylsteke is married to Josephine Wu Vuylsteke, a former broadcast journalist; they have three sons.

Keynote Presentation (2019) | Presentation information will be added here shortly

Previous IICEHawaii Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2018) | The East-West Center “Spin” on Education
Uncle Bruce Yoshio Keaulani
Living Life Source Foundation

Biography

Bruce Yoshio Keaulani was born and raised in Waikiki, one of two sons of “Ox” Keaulani, a beachboy who surfed with Duke Kahanamoku, and Janet Kaneda Keaulani, the daughter of a Buddhist priest from Niigata Prefecture. His genealogy traces back to the heavens, through the union of his ancestors, Paiea and Kuahilanimaka. Uncle Bruce is the CEO and Kahu of Living Life Source Foundation, in Pu`ulena, Mānoa, and Professor of Kaito Gakko, a school of peace martial arts, where he carries the lineage of Doctor Kaito, Uncle David Nuuhiwa.

Uncle Bruce was taken at age 5, by his father, to study the teachings of peace martial arts and healing with Seishiro “Henry” Okazaki, and later, was selected to carry his family’s practice of Hawaiian martial arts. He credits his teacher, Aunty Mornnah Simeona, for enlightening him with the practices of ho`oponopono, lomilomi, laau lapaau and laau kahea.

A father, grandfather and great-grandfather, he has worked with youth of all ages, and their families for over 40 years, as a coach, kumu, Sensei, and traditional healer. Uncle Bruce has a deep concern for the needs of homeless youth and families, especially, in the Ahupuaa of Waikiki, and sustains a nurturing and safe Kauhale, a Native Hawaiian traditional system of living, where peace and Aloha is honored.

Featured Presentation (2019) | Hawaiian Oli Opening

Previous IICEHawaii Presentations

Featured Panel Presentation (2017) | Aloha as a Way of Being: Hawaiian Perspectives on Learning
Aunty Kehaulani Lum
Living Life Source Foundation

Biography

Aloha. I am Kehaulani Lum from Aiea, Oahu. Mahalo nui loa for the opportunity to serve the youth and families of Hawai`i Nei. My paternal family ties are to Nanakawaaokeoua, of Kawaihae, Hawaii, Kapou of Wailea, Hawaii, Waiehu of Waipio, Hawaii, Helela of Anahulu, Oahu, Kailiahi and Akana of Aiea, Oahu, Hulilani of Mokuoeo, Oahu, and Lum of Kalihi, Oahu. My maternal family ties connect to Taua of Hana and Lahaina, Hubbell of Makawao and Pukalani, Keawe and Haia of Hana, and Keanu of Wailuku.

Beyond the islands of Hawaii Nei, my familial lineage traverses the great oceans and continents, to Matapuupuu, chief priest of Huahine and advisor to Keopuolani, Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor of China (2697 BC), Bi Gan, advisor to the last Emperor of the Shang Dynasty, Wilhelm of Weissach, Württemberg, Germany, Hubball of Worcestershire, England, and the O’Sullivan Bear Clan.

As the eldest grandchild of my family in both lines, I was prepared since age 5 for a lifetime of service to humanity, especially, in the realms of Native Hawaiian cultural and historic preservation, economic development, education, natural resource restoration, spirituality, and social development. I appear today as the Board Secretary of Living Life Source Foundation and a student of Uncle Bruce Keaulani.

Featured Presentation (2019) | Hawaiian Oli Opening

Previous IICEHawaii Presentations

Featured Panel Presentation (2017) | Aloha as a Way of Being: Hawaiian Perspectives on Learning
Amanda Müller
Flinders University, Australia

Biography

Dr Amanda Müller is a Senior Lecturer at Flinders University, where she teaches English for Specific Purposes. Among her achievements, she has been a top-three finalist for a national innovation award in nursing, an invited speaker on language testing and clinical communication, a consultant for multicultural aged care support, has two international quality badges for her computer games, awarded Flinders University’s Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Early Career Researcher, Flinders University’s Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence, and Executive Dean’s Individual Prize for Innovation. She is a nationally accredited editor and a current member of the governing Council of Flinders University. Dr Müller has been involved in eight successful research grants.

Dr Müller has worked in many multidisciplinary research groups and published on a diverse range of topics, including simulation-based learning, English language testing and policy, nursing English, computer-assisted language learning, teaching kanji, academic English, teaching psychomotor skills in ultrasound, higher education, childbirth, English dialects, phonological awareness, and nursing registration policy. Her articles have appeared in top international journals, such as International Journal of Nursing Studies, Medical Teacher, Women & Birth, Journal of Further and Higher Education, Internal Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, and Journal of Educational Computer Research. She has produced a number of book chapters and two books. She has also presented papers at many international conferences. She is constantly looking for new opportunities to conduct and disseminate research.

Featured Presentation (2019) | Presentation information will be added shortly

Previous IICEHawaii Presentations

Featured Presentation (2017) | Doing Interdisciplinary Research and Publishing
Keiichi Ogawa
Kobe University, Japan

Biography

Dr Keiichi Ogawa is a Professor/Department Chair in the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies at Kobe University in Japan, where he teaches the human capital development, education finance/administration, and development management. His research interest lies in economics of education, education finance, and comparative international education.

His professional experiences include serving as Education Economist at the World Bank, Senior Advisor at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Advisor at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Consultant at the Asia Development Bank (ADB), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), UNICEF and UNESCO, and Advisory Committee Member at the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT). He has also served in various graduate schools, including Honorary Professor at Kyrgyz National University, Visiting Professor at Columbia University, and Adjunct Professor at George Washington University.

He has served as a Governing Board Member of the UNESCO IIEP, Secretary General/Board Member of the Japan Society for International Development (JASID), and Board Member of the Japan Comparative Education Society (JCES). He has also served on the Advisory Editorial Board for BAICE (British Association for International & Comparative Education), Lao Journal of Economics and Management, and Souphanouvong Academic Journal, as well as Editorial Board Member for Comparative Education (Japan Comparative Education Society), Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Journal of International Cooperation Studies, Africa Education Research Journal, and Journal of International Educational Cooperation.

Professor Ogawa received Distinguished Services Awards from the Yemeni Ministry of Education, in 2005 and 2009 and from the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports, in 2011 and 2018, for his contributions to the development of education. He also received the Early Career Award from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 2009; the President's Award from Kobe University, in 2010; the Professional Achievement Award from Hawaii Pacific University, in 2011; and the Evaluation Award from the Prime Minister of Uganda, in 2014.

He has worked on development assistance activities in over 30 countries and has co-authored or co-edited six books and over 70 journal articles/book chapters. Many of these works are related to educational development and cooperation in international settings. He holds his PhD in Comparative International Education and Economics of Education from Columbia University.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Presentation information will be added here shortly