Wendy Pearson, Senior Advisor to the Provost and Asian Studies Alumna reflects on her time at UH Mānoa

Wendy Pearson, Senior Advisor to the Provost and UH Mānoa Asian Studies alumna, is leaving campus after nearly three decades to pursue a new role as the Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Stony Brook University. She generously shared some of her time and story with us about how she got to UH and what her time here has meant to her. 

Pearson’s journey to Honolulu started in Detroit, Michigan. As an undergraduate journalism student, she picked a language focus and studied Spanish and Japanese. She fell in love with the Japanese language and jumped on an opportunity to spend a year studying in Japan, an experience she cites as crucial to finding her way to Hawaii. After studying abroad, she returned to Detroit looking for a way to use her language skills. She found a position at Wayne State University, developing and facilitating workshops to support Detroit Public School’s to support Japanese language programs. 

Pearson remembers her director there—he’s the one who first planted the thought of her pursuing an MA in Japanese Studies. “When you take interest in a student and plant those seeds, you can change someone’s life,” said Pearson. “Having a scholar say you can do this was everything for me believing I could be successful.” 

So, Pearson started looking for Master’s programs. At UH Mānoa’s Asian Studies program she saw faculty whose work she’d been reading and using over the last year to build her workshops. That, combined with the campus’ relative affordability and proximity to Japan, convinced her to make the move across the ocean. Her first encounter at the school was with the Associate Dean, who helped her get funding and figure out the bus route home. Pearson says that set the tone for the following decades here—one of warmth, acceptance, and space to grow. “’Ohana really does ring true,” said Wendy. “It’s probably why I’ve been here so long!”

In her second year in the Asian Studies program Pearson became an East West Center Fellow. She cites the center as having an incredible impact, especially in helping her develop a community. Some of the people she met at the East West Center are still close friends, and everyone is doing well. Even those like Pearson who aren’t explicitly using their Asian Studies degrees in their careers cite their time in the program as having a huge impact on their career trajectory. 

After graduating, Pearson made the transition from student to employee at UH Mānoa, first as a faculty specialist, then as an administrator. During her time here she’s coordinated the Mānoa commencement exercises, handled academic program review, and helped institutionalize new programs, including the Learning Assistant Program. One of the things she’s most proud of is being a part of shepherding through the campus tenure reaffirmation of accreditation, a four-year process which ensures our university’s quality and integrity for the next ten years. 

Throughout her time at UH, the value of ‘ohana has remained as central to Pearson as it was on her first day on campus. Relationships with her colleagues have maintained priority and been crucial to the success of her projects. “When things get tough and you’ve got a hard project, it’s easier when you know the people you’re working with and trust each other,” said Pearson. As she makes the transition from Honolulu to Long Island, Pearson is looking forward to carrying what she’s learned in Hawai’i with her. Her first priorities: getting her bearings building relationships with her new colleagues. 

While we will greatly miss Wendy Pearson’s presence on our campus, we can’t wait to see what she does at Stony Brook University!