Dr Robert C Kiste, affectionately known as “Bob,” passed away on November 28, 2017, at the age of 81. Bob had served at the helm of CPIS for twenty-four years until his retirement in 2002. In addition to leading in an administrative capacity, Bob mentored and collaborated with countless colleagues, students, and members of the Pacific community. A memorial gathering, hosted by CPIS, was held on March 8, 2018, in the Hawaiian and Pacific Collections of the Hamilton Library at UH Mānoa. Honoring Bob’s lifetime commitment to the region and the center, the evening featured a list of distinguished speakers and video testimonials sent in from the Pacific Islands region. Over 100 close friends, colleagues, former students, and others inspired by Bob’s work attended the memorial, along with Bob’s loving wife Valerie.
Following several years of service in the US Army in the 1950s, Bob completed his graduate and undergraduate studies on the US continent, going on serve as a visiting professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa from 1972–73 and again in 1976. In July 1978, he became a permanent fixture at UH Mānoa when he was hired as director of the university’s Pacific Islands Studies Program (PIP). The program lacked dedicated faculty, support staff, and a commitment of resources, financial or otherwise. In Bob’s words, Pacific Islands Studies at UH had “nowhere to go but up.” Through Bob’s vision, leadership, passion, and advocacy, PIP grew into what is today: the Center for Pacific Islands Studies housed in the School of Pacific and Asian Studies (previously the School of Hawaiian, Pacific, and Asian Studies).
