Presidents of the University of Hawai`I: Kenneth P. Mortimer

Presidents of the University of Hawai‘i Kenneth P. Mortimer Center for Oral History Social Science Research Institute University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa July 2014 Copyright © 2014 Center for Oral History Social Science Research Institute University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa This is a slightly edited transcription of an interview conducted by the Center for Oral History, University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa. The reader should be aware that an oral history document portrays information as recalled by the interviewee. Because of the spontaneous nature of this kind of document, it may contain statements and impressions that are not factual. People are welcome to utilize, in unpublished works, short excerpts from the transcription without obtaining permission as long as proper credit is given to the interviewee, interviewer, and the Center for Oral History. Permission must be obtained from the Center for Oral History for published excerpts and extensive use of the transcription and related materials. The transcript and audio recording may not be duplicated or reproduced by any party without permission from the Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa, 2560 Campus Road, George Hall 212, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822. This oral history is dedicated to Kay Burton Nagle and the late Lorraine Murai Mortimer ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Jean Imada, former Administrative Assistant to the President, University of Hawai‘i Judith Inazu, Associate Director, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa Velma Kameoka, Director, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa David McClain, former President, University of Hawai‘i Joyce Najita, Director, Industrial Relations Center, University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa Albert J. Simone, former President, University of Hawai‘i TABLE OF CONTENTS Project Staff ........................................................................................................................... ix Photograph ............................................................................................................................. xi Introduction ......................................................................................................................... xiii Interviews Biographical Summary ....................................................................................................... 1 Session 1 ............................................................................................................................. 2 Session 2 ........................................................................................................................... 22 Session 3 ........................................................................................................................... 50 Session 4 ........................................................................................................................... 75 Session 5 ......................................................................................................................... 102 Session 6 ......................................................................................................................... 125 Glossary ................................................................................................................................ A-1 Index ..................................................................................................................................... B-1 PROJECT STAFF Center for Oral History Social Science Research Institute Director and Principal Investigator Warren Nishimoto Research Coordinator Michi Kodama-Nishimoto Research Associate Holly Yamada Publications Specialist Cynthia Oshiro Student Transcriber Kenory Khuy Kenneth P. Mortimer INTRODUCTION The Center for Oral History (COH), a unit of the Social Science Research Institute at the University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa, was established in 1976. The only state-supported center of its kind in the islands, COH’s major function is to research, conduct, transcribe, edit, and disseminate oral history interviews with persons possessing knowledge about Hawai‘i’s past. COH seeks to provide present and future researchers with first-person, primary source documents with which to write history from a diversity of perspectives. Since its inception, COH has disseminated to repositories oral history interviews with more than 800 individuals and deposited in archives, a collection of more than 36,000 transcript pages. COH also produces educational materials based on the interviews, conducts classes and workshops on oral history methodology, and serves as a clearinghouse for oral history research relating to Hawai‘i. University of Hawai‘i Presidents Oral History Project Background and Methodology This is one of a series of transcript volumes of oral history interviews with former presidents of the University of Hawai‘i. The initial push for the series came in the mid-1990s from University of Hawai‘i president Kenneth P. Mortimer, whose office provided funding and general fiscal support. Former presidents Harlan Cleveland, Fujio Matsuda, and Albert J. Simone were apprised of the project and invited via letter by President Mortimer to participate in the interviews. COH director Warren Nishimoto met with Judith K. Inazu, executive assistant to the president, to discuss details and logistics of the oral history project then followed up President Mortimer’s letter with a telephone call to the three former presidents to secure their commitment. In 2011, after obtaining a similar commitment from Kenneth Mortimer, he, too was interviewed as a former president of the University of Hawai‘i. In order to place the university presidency within the context of each president’s life experiences—his socioeconomic background, family, community, education, and academic and professional career—the interviews followed a chronological, life-history format. Each was asked to comment in detail on his years as UH president, focusing on his ambitions, goals, accomplishments, and disappointments. Each was also asked questions about his relationships with individuals and institutions inside and outside the university (i.e., the board of regents, deans/directors, faculty/staff, students, the governor, legislature, other elected officials, community activists, and business leaders). Other major topics discussed include: reasons for and circumstances surrounding their accepting and leaving the post; the major issues confronted during each presidency; and the presidents’ roles and methods in dealing with issues. Finally, each former president was asked for an assessment of his strengths and weaknesses, recommendations for the future of the University of Hawai‘i, and his reflections on life and career in Hawai‘i and elsewhere. Cleveland, Matsuda, and Simone were interviewed by Warren Nishimoto and/or COH Research Associate Michiko Kodama-Nishimoto between January 1996 and September 1997. Mortimer was interviewed by Nishimoto and Kodama-Nishimoto in February 2011. Most of the interviews were conducted in Hawai‘i. Additional interviews were conducted in Minneapolis, Minnesota where Cleveland was president of the World Academy of Art and Science, and in Rochester, New York where Simone was president of the Rochester Institute of Technology. An unrecorded preliminary interview was conducted with each former president in order to establish rapport and obtain biographical information. No set questionnaire was used in the recorded sessions; the interviewers followed an outline of topics designed specifically for each interviewee. Each topic outline was constructed using biographical information from: the preliminary interview, each president’s vitae, and various written sources. The presidents participated in several interview sessions, with each session lasting an average of ninety minutes. The interviews were transcribed almost verbatim by COH-trained student transcribers. The transcripts were audio-reviewed against the original recordings, then edited slightly for clarity and historical accuracy. Each president reviewed his own transcripts. Each was asked to verify names and dates and clarify statements where necessary. COH then incorporated the changes. Prior to releasing their transcripts for publication, the presidents read and signed a legal document releasing all rights, title, and interest to the edited transcripts to the University of Hawai‘i Center for Oral History for scholarly and educational use. Kenneth Paul Mortimer Born in 1937, Kenneth Mortimer, the second of four children of Richard and M. Patricia Mortimer, was raised in Massachusetts where he attended Middleboro High School. Graduating from Hebron Academy, a college preparatory boarding school in Maine, in 1956, he matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania where he obtained an AB in English in 1960 and an MBA in International Business from The Wharton School in 1962. He married Penn student, Hawai‘i-born Lorraine Murai, in 1959. In the mid-1960s, he began studies at the University of California at Berkeley where he received his doctorate in Higher Education in 1969. As Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Research Associate at Pennsylvania State University’s new Center for the Study of Higher Education, Kenneth Mortimer began what was to be a long and distinguished career in research and administration at Penn State. He was promoted to Professor in 1975; served as Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education (1976–1981); and joined

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