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

  • David P. Ericson
    David P. Ericson
    University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
  • Curtis Ho
    Curtis Ho
    University of Hawai’i at Manoa, USA
  • Joshua Mok
    Joshua Mok
    Lingnan University, Hong Kong
  • Amanda Müller
    Amanda Müller
    Flinders University, Australia
  • Nathan Murata
    Nathan Murata
    University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
  • Deane Neubauer
    Deane Neubauer
    East-West Center, USA
  • Keiichi Ogawa
    Keiichi Ogawa
    Kobe University, Japan
  • Sela V. Panapasa
    Sela V. Panapasa
    University of Michigan, USA

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
David P. Ericson
University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA

Biography

David P. Ericson is a Professor of Philosophy of Education and Educational Policy Studies in the Department of Educational Foundations, College of Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Prior to joining the Faculty of the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1992, he was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (1979 – 1992) and a professor at Virginia Tech (1977 – 1979). In the College of Education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, he has served as chairperson in two departments (Department of Educational Foundations and the Department of Curriculum & Instruction), as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, and as director of the Office of International Education. He also served as Editor-in-Chief of Studies in Philosophy and Education for five years.

With research and scholarly interests in philosophy of education, educational policy analysis, and comparative and international education, he has published widely on education issues, the logic of social science research methodology, and educational policy and reform issues in the U.S. and Asia. He is particularly noted for his work on the structure and behaviour of national educational systems in the U.S. and Asia. He has been a Fulbright Senior Specialist Award holder (2007 – 2012), an award that has enabled his research efforts on educational reform issues in lower and higher education in Denmark and China. Most recently, he has been researching policy issues concerning the expansion and quality of higher education in Vietnam.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Featured Panel in Association with APHERP

Previous IICEHawaii Presentations

Featured Panel Presentation (2018) | Educational Policy: Does the Democratisation of Education in Educational Systems Fuel Economic and Social Inequality?
Curtis Ho
University of Hawai’i at Manoa, USA

Biography

Curtis Ho is Professor, Department Chair and Graduate Chair of the Learning Design and Technology department at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. He has been a UH faculty member for over 30 years, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in educational media research, interactive multimedia, web-based instruction, distance education, video technology, and computer-based education. He has taught courses in American and Western Samoa and Saipan, and was the first to offer a course statewide over the Hawai’i Interactive Television System.

Curtis Ho received his PhD in Educational Technology from Arizona State University where he served as instructional designer. He has consulted for public and private schools, financial institutions, and higher education. For several years he directed the Office of Faculty Development and Academic Support for the University of Hawaii’s Manoa campus. He has presented extensively at national and international conferences at locations including Beijing, Copenhagen, Eskisehir, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Lugano, Rome, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Melbourne, Montreal, Osaka, Panang, Taipei, Takamatsu, Tokyo, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Professor Ho was a Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator and Project Director for three US Department of Education grants totalling over 9.8 million US dollars. He is a co-organiser of TCC Worldwide Online Conference, an executive committee member of E-Learn, Association for the Advancement of Computers in Education, and is also past-President of the Pan Pacific Distance Learning Association, a chapter of the United States Distance Learning Association and of the Pacific Association for Communications and Technology, a chapter of the national Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Independence & Interdependence

Previous IICEHawaii Presentations

Featured Panel Presentation (2017) | Educating for Change: Challenging and Preserving Traditional Cultures
Joshua Mok
Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Biography

Professor Joshua Mok Ka-ho is the Vice-President and concurrently Lam Man Tsan Chair Professor of Comparative Policy of Lingnan University. Before joining Lingnan, he was the Vice President (Research and Development) and Chair Professor of Comparative Policy of The Hong Kong Institute of Education, and the Associate Dean and Professor of Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences of The University of Hong Kong. Prior to this, Professor Mok was appointed as the Founding Chair Professor in East Asian Studies and established the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.

Professor Mok is no narrow disciplinary specialist but has worked creatively across the academic worlds of sociology, political science, and public and social policy while building up his wide knowledge of China and the region. Professor Mok completed his undergraduate studies in Public and Social Administration at the City University of Hong Kong in 1989, and received an MPhil and PhD in Sociology from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1991 and The London School of Economics and Political Science in 1994 respectively.

In addition, Professor Mok has published extensively in the fields of comparative education policy, comparative development and policy studies, and social development in contemporary China and East Asia. In particular, he has contributed to the field of social change and education policy in a variety of ways, not the least of which has been his leadership and entrepreneurial approach to the organisation of the field. His recent published works have focused on comparative social development and social policy responses in the Greater China region and East Asia. He is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Asian Public Policy (London: Routledge) and Asian Education and Development Studies (Emerald) as well as a Book Series Editor for Routledge and Springer.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Featured Panel in Association with APHERP
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) | Opportunities Gained Through Interdisciplinary Research

Previous IICEHawaii Presentations

Featured Presentation (2017) | Doing Interdisciplinary Research and Publishing
Nathan Murata
University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA

Biography

Nathan Murata completed his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University and joined the faculty at Chaminade University to start their special education program. He left Chaminade to pursue a position at the University of Toledo. Nathan returned to Hawaii as an Assistant Professor in the Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Science (KRS) department, University of Hawaii at Manoa. He became a Full Professor, served as Department chair and Associate Dean prior to becoming Dean of the College of Education.

He co-authored two textbooks, numerous publications and local, state, national and International presentations. He secured over $2.5 million dollars in U.S. DOE, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Programs training grants, and contracts worth over $1.5 million from the State of Hawaii, Department of Health focusing on the Hawaii Concussion Awareness and Management Program (HCAMP) in collaboration with the Hawaii Department of Education. HCAMP is the only state supported concussion awareness and education program in the country. Working within the context of Adapted Physical Education, and with the support of external partners, he organized the first Interscholastic high school basketball games featuring both students with disabilities and those who are at-risk. His program has received a State Senate resolution in 2018 from the honorable Sen. Michelle Kidani.

Welcome on Behalf of University of Hawaii at Manoa
Deane Neubauer
East-West Center, USA

Biography

Deane Neubauer is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. He currently also serves as the Associate Director of the Asia Pacific Higher Education Research Partnership (APHERP) which conducts a wide range of policy-focused research with a special focus on higher education. He is also currently an adjunct fellow of the East-West Center, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Deane holds a BA from the University of California, Riverside, and MA and PhD degrees from Yale University. Over the course of his career he has focused on a variety of political and policy areas including democratic theory, public policy, elections and various policy foci, including education, health, agriculture and communication. He has held a wide variety of administrative positions at the University of Hawaii, Manoa and the 10 campus University of Hawaii system. He also has over twenty-years experience in US-oriented quality assurance.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Featured Panel in Association with APHERP
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 Presentation (2019) | SDGs and Education: Sustainable Financing for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia
Sela V. Panapasa
University of Michigan, USA

Biography

Dr Sela V. Panapasa studies family support and intergenerational exchanges among aged Pacific Islanders living in the US and Pacific region. Her work examines changes in elderly living arrangements and headship status in response to demographic and socioeconomic change. Her interests include family demography, race and ethnicity, measuring health disparities and comparative studies.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Independence & Interdependence

Previous IAFOR Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2018) | Anticipating Educational Needs That Ensure a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Workforce for a Changing U.S. Population
Featured Presentation (ACE2017) | Teaching Health Equity at the Community Level: Engaging Faith Based Organizations in Teaching Community Based Nutritional and Health Behaviors