John Casken, chair and associate specialist of nursing and former director of international health at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, died in October 2024 at the age of 84. Casken also served as a member of the UH Professional Assembly (UHPA) Board of Directors five different times over the course of 27 years.
Throughout his career, Casken made numerous contributions to higher education and the larger community in Hawaiʻi. He was also the former chair of the Council on Study Abroad and former chair of the Mānoa Faculty Senate. Additionally, he was a board member of the Hawaiʻi Health and Harm Reduction Center and its past president. In 2000, Casken was awarded the UH Board of Regents Medal for Excellence in Teaching.
Prior to his appointment to the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, Casken was a faculty member in the UH School of Public Health, where he taught classes, headed the UH Mānoa Health Careers Opportunity Program, and recruited Native Hawaiians, American Indians and Alaska Natives for the Master of Public Health program.
Casken will be remembered for his commitment to improving community health by influencing health policy and addressing health and social disparities in the state, particularly for rural communities across the islands and for Native Hawaiians.
He was remembered warmly by:
