The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business honored five distinguished alumni at the annual Hall of Honor Awards fundraising dinner at the Sheraton Waikīkī. The 2019 inductees recognized on October 10 were Russell J. Hata, Lance M. Inouye, Micah A. Kāne, Wendy Peterson and Wendy Tong Barnes.
Since 1992, more than 100 business professionals have been inducted into the Hall of Honor, representing a wide range of industries and exemplifying the best of business in Hawaiʻi and the world. Honorees are selected for their leadership qualities and outstanding contributions to their profession, community and alma mater.
With the support of the Shidler Alumni Association, nearly 600 professionals representing more than 70 companies attended the event to help raise funds for the Shidler College of Business. Proceeds support student scholarships, enrichment programs, alumni outreach and special student activities.
Hall of Honor inductees
Russell J. Hata is the chairman, president and CEO of Y. Hata & Co., Limited, a 106-year-old, $330-million wholesale foodservice distributor with warehouses on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island, Maui and Kauaʻi. Hata is credited with the company’s turnaround in the 1990s and its current expansion, innovations and community engagement. He is the founder of ChefZone, Hawaiʻi’s first foodservice club store and has acquired Koa Trading on Kauaʻi and King Food Service on Oʻahu and Maui. He expanded scholarship support for culinary students and the Culinary Institute of the Pacific’s programs and competitions. Hata earned his BBA in finance and an EMBA from the Shidler College of Business.
Lance M. Inouye is president and CEO of Ralph S Inouye Co, Ltd (RSI), a local construction company founded by his father Ralph S. Inouye in 1962. Inouye joined RSI in 1981 as an estimator and worked his way up to chief estimator and vice president, before being named president and CEO in 2002. With Inouye’s guidance, RSI increased its revenues from $17 million to $67 million in 2017. Inouye is licensed to practice law in Hawaiʻi and the U.S. 9th Circuit. He earned a JD from the William S. Richardson School of Law and an EMBA from the Shidler College of Business.
Micah A. Kāne is the CEO and president of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation (HCF), the state’s largest and oldest foundation that transforms lives and improve communities. Kāne is the third CEO and president in HCF’s 100-year history. Before joining HCF, Kāne was the chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, chairman and executive director of the Hawaiʻi Republican Party and the government affairs liaison for the Building Industry Association of Hawaiʻi. He currently serves as chairman of the board of trustees for the Kamehameha Schools and as a director on the board of the Hawaiian Electric Co. He earned his MBA from the Shidler College of Business.
Wendy Peterson is the general counsel of Knobbe Martens in Irvine, CA. Knobbe Martens is one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the nation. Since 2002, Peterson has guided her firm on internal legal matters, such as ethics, contracts, real estate, employment, loss prevention and partnership governance. Throughout her career, Peterson has been devoted to giving back to the community and served on a number of boards, including the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) at the Shidler College of Business. Peterson earned a JD from the William S. Richardson School of Law and a BBA in accounting from the Shidler College of Business.
Wendy Tong Barnes is the chief corporate affairs officer of CK Asset Holdings Limited, CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited and CK Life Sciences International, Inc. Barnes serves as deputy CEO at Hui Xian Asset Management Limited. Barnes earned a BBA from the School of Travel Industry Management, a branch of Shidler College of Business.
To read more on the honorees, go to the Shidler College of Business website.
—By Dolly Omiya
