Taupōuri Tangarō has been named director of Hawaiian culture and protocols engagement for the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College.
“The appointment of Dr. Tangarō to this important collaborative position shows the joint commitment of UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College to Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao, the systemwide plan for UH to become a model indigenous-serving institution,” said UH Hilo Chancellor Don Straney.
Tangarō served on the University of Hawaiʻi System taskforce that developed the plan in 2012 and currently serves as a member of the systemwide Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao Committee.
“Dr. Tangarō is well qualified to advise the leadership of UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College on implementing our respective Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao plans and collaborating on goals and objectives that benefit both campuses,” said Hawaiʻi CC Interim Chancellor Joni Onishi.
Tangarō received the Native Hawaiian Education Association Educator of the Year in 2013, the UH Board of Regents Excellence in Teaching Award, the UH Frances Davis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the UH Hilo Distinguished Service Award.
Taupōuri Tangarō presents at the 2014 World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education, held at Kapiʻolani Community College, May 19–24, 2014.
A bio rich in culture and collaboration
Tangarō received his bachelor of arts in Hawaiian studies from UH Hilo, his master in education from Heritage College, Washington and his doctor of philosophy in interdisciplinary studies from Union Institute and University, Ohio. He graduated as a hula instructor, with the title ʻŪniki Kumu Hula, from Hālau O Kekuhi in 2007. He is a professor of Hawaiian studies at Hawaiʻi CC and delivers the associate of arts degree in Hawaiian studies with a hula focus.
By using the hālau (formal Hawaiian education) foundation to teach the hula degree program, he established Unukupukupu, the hālau hula of Hawaiʻi CC, over ten years ago. Tangarō and Unukupukupu have performed worldwide including at the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC; the 2012 International Union for the Conservation of Nature Congress in Jeju, Korea; and at the World of Shadow Theatre in Stuttgart, Germany, this past December.
Tangarō serves as director of the Kauhale Academic Village, described as an ʻohana (family) of administrators, faculty, staff, students, their families and the Hawaiʻi Island community that contributes measurably to the success of Hawaiʻi CC’s mission and outcomes.
For more on Tangarō, read the UH Hilo Stories article
Related UH News video: Hawaiʻi CC hālau performs at Library of Congress, September 24, 2012.
—By Susan Enright
