Tom Wellman’s attraction to Hawaiʻi started when he was a kid growing up in Wyoming, writing to pen pals from the age of 10. One frigid winter in high school, he read an article in Readers Digest about teenagers from the mainland coming to Hawaiʻi to pick pineapples.

Using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve energy efficiency, and transforming waste into pre-refined biomass are a pair of projects that won pitch events in Hawaiʻi and are headed to nationals to compete for more than $400,000 in cash prizes.

A lot of students have side hustles to offset the cost of paying for college and living in Hawai‘i. For Shidler College of Business marketing senior Jayson Siu, his car accessory business, called Invalid.jp, has turned to lucrative business. In 2022, Invalid.jp brought in $512,000 in revenue and continues to exceed that amount. Invalid.jp blew up after Siu posted a viral TikTok video in 2021, showcasing an LED-lined rearview mirror, which lead to $12,000 in sales in one day.Marketing Student Creates Lucrative Side Hustle Utilizing Social Media

Leveraging momentum generated by The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) 2024, Shidler College of Business’ (Shidler College) Information Technology Management (ITM) department took a bold step forward in enriching academic dialogue centered on artificial intelligence (AI), responsibility and social justice. Earlier this month, the department hosted its inaugural post-HICSS research workshop on campus, showcasing ITM’s dedication to exploring how cutting-edge technologies can be harnessed for the greater good, while ensuring the march of progress aligns with societal values of equity and responsibility.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business hosted nearly 300 donors and students at its annual Scholarship Luncheon at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on November 6. The event provided donors with an opportunity to meet their scholarship student recipients and learn first-hand about the impact of their gifts.

Corina Quach, a 2020 University of Hawaiʻiat Mānoa Shidler College of Business graduate, is better known on social media as @fiveftfoodie. A self-proclaimed introvert, she could have never imagined she’d be a social media sensation with more than 44,000 followers on Instagram. In fact, Quach was originally planning to attend culinary school in Tokyo to pursue her passion for baking. And then the pandemic hit, and she needed a new plan.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business hosted its 30th annual Hall of Honor Awards on October 26, at the Sheraton Waikīkī. The evening celebrated the outstanding achievements of five distinguished alumni and raised more than $370,000 in support of Shidler college. These funds support the Shidler College of Business Advancement Fund, furthering its mission to bolster student programs, scholarships, faculty research, alumni outreach and special programs.

Honolulu philanthropist and former First Hawaiian Bank Chairman Walter A. Dods Jr. is donating $5 million to the University of Hawaiʻi’s new Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs (RISE) at UH Mānoa. In recognition of this momentous gift, the building will be renamed the Walter Dods Jr. RISE Center.

This story was reposted on Oct. 5 on UH News and originally appeared in the Shidler Business magazine. 

Promising University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business freshmen learned how to kickstart a business and pitched their ideas to investors, all while raising almost $2,000 to help victims of the devastating Maui wildfires.

Vance Roley, dean of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Shidler College of Business, is a recipient of the Most Admired Leaders award by Pacific Business News (PBN). Roley is one of 27 awardees that span a range of industries, including education, nonprofits, health care and real estate.

Travis Counsell lives his passion for bicycles every day as the executive director of the Hawaiʻi Bicycling League (HBL), a local nonprofit that represents all people who bike for recreation, health or transportation.

A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty member has become the first U.S. recipient of the Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) Founder’s Award, which recognizes a scholar or industry leader who has made significant lifetime contributions in advancing tourism research and/or industry practices in the Asia Pacific region.

More than 325 University of Hawaiʻi students have become the first residents to move into the new state-of-the-art Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs (RISE) student housing facility for the fall 2023 semester. The state-of-the-art building opened in August 2023 on the site of the former Atherton YMCA and is expected to transform the entrepreneurial ecosystem at UH’s flagship campus.

The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation has given $200,000 to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s RISE—Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs—project, a world-class innovation and entrepreneurship center coupled with student housing being built on the site of the former Atherton YMCA across from the flagship campus.

The world’s most promising doctoral students in the field of accounting gathered at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for the third annual Hawaiʻi Accounting Research Doctoral Institute (HARDI), June 2–20.

Recent Shidler College of Business graduates Stefani Sakamoto, Lydia Jun, Joan Martinez, and Kaylee Miki thought they had experienced everything college has to offer. And then they joined the Manoa Consulting Case Competition (MCCC) team. 

The Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa celebrated its 62nd Business Night on May 4 at the Sheraton Waikiki, hosting more than 400 students and business professionals for an evening of mentorship and networking, professional development and recognizing deserving students for their scholastic achievements. 

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business’ School of Travel Industry Management (TIM) held its 21st annual Celebrate a Legacy in Tourism gala on April 13, at the ʻAlohilani Resort Waikiki Beach. The event is the largest fundraiser in support of the TIM School, with proceeds benefiting student scholarships.

Jay H. Shidler, BBA ’68, an alumnus of the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, has donated an additional $5 million in cash to the college. This latest contribution adds to Shidler’s $117 million gift made in 2017, $69 million in 2014, and his first initial gift of $25 million in 2006, all in cash and real estate ground leases. 

The 23rd annual Executive Vineyards event raised a record $65,000 for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business. Held at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on March 9, a sold-out event of more than 600 guests enjoyed an evening of networking, sampling delicious items from local restaurants and tasting a variety of wines and spirits with the iconic Diamond Head and Waikīkī Beach in the backdrop.

More than 100 alumni gathered on February 5 at Aloha Beer Company, founded by Shidler alumnus Steve Sombrero, MBA ‘94, for the inaugural Asian Field Study Reunion, sponsored by the Asian Field Study Association. The evening was packed with catching up with old friends, sharing stories, enjoying music and delicious food and drinks. Asian Field Study directors K.K. Seo, Jack Suyderhoud and Ben Bystrom relived the program's history and some lucky guests won fabulous prizes from the raffle.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s School of Travel Industry Management (TIM) in the Shidler College of Business received a $500,000 gift from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to support students who enrolled from Hawaiʻi high schools. The gift establishes a new scholarship that will assist juniors and seniors who demonstrate financial need and leadership abilities, with a preference for students of Native Hawaiian ancestry.

When Courtney Ro, BBA ‘12, was a student at Shidler studying management and accounting, she was busy preparing herself for her post-college path, which would include her first job out of college at Ernst and Young and then running her own bookkeeping business in 2017. She couldn’t have imagined it at the time, but the flexibility of setting her own schedule would allow her to help her husband, Zachary Villanueva, also a UH Mānoa alumnus (BA ‘15), sell handcrafted (?) ice cream while he was still working a full-time job. Now the pair operate Sage Creamery, scooping out flavors like strawberry fields, kiawe honey lavender and haulolo.