2025-2026 Awards
Recipients of 2025-26 awards will be announced in May 2026. For further information about History Department funds and how to apply, please click here.
2024-25 Awards
Undergraduate Awards
Ishi Sakurai Scholarship in Asian History
Ming Lam
Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student
Alicia Rose Boucher
Taraknath Das Prize for Undergraduate Excellence in Asian Studies
Cori Matsumoto
Graduate Awards
Jerry H. Bentley Scholarship in World History
Ruizhi Choo
Jagdish P. Sharma Memorial Scholarship
Aisheedyuti Roy (History), Nelum Uttamadasa Rakinawasan (Political Science)
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis
Tess Schwalger, Han-Ling Wu
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper
Ruizhi Choo
John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship in History
Kale Kanaeholo
Barbara Bennett Peterson Graduate Student Support Fund
Veronica Alporha, Jaehyung Kim
Outstanding Teaching Assistant
Duncan Brouwer
Faculty Awards and Recognition
Jerry H. Bentley Distinguished Professor in World History
Prof. Wensheng Wang
Jerry H. Bentley Faculty Award in World History
Prof. Monica LaBriola
2023-24 Awards
Graduate Awards
Jerry H. Bentley Scholarship in World History
Sulim Kim
Jagdish P. Sharma Memorial Scholarship
Haider Hussain (Political Science), Corwyn Madrone (Religion), and Anupama Reddy (Linguistics)
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis
Noah Holck
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper
Jaehyung Kim
John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship in History
Jaehyung Kim and Yeseung Yun
Barbara Bennett Peterson Graduate Student Support Fund
Veronica Alporha, Hosub Hwang, and Wonkeun Lee
Outstanding Teaching Assistant
Sijian Wang
Robert K. Sakai Award for East Asian History
Xinli Zhang and Sijian Wang
Daniel W. Y. Kwok Award for Graduate Student Research
Sulim Kim
Dr. Mimi Henriksen Memorial Scholarship
Asako Moody
Faculty Awards and Recognition
Jerry H. Bentley Faculty Award in World History
Prof. Ned Bertz, Prof. Marcus Daniel, and Prof. Noah Dolim
2022-23 Awards
Undergraduate Awards
Ishi Sakurai Scholarship in Asian History
Nicole Hamamura and Joao D. Mejia
Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student
Crystal Lam
Taraknath Das Prize for Undergraduate Excellence in Asian Studies
Trinity Oshiro
Graduate Awards
Jerry H. Bentley Scholarship in World History
Yeseung Yun
Jagdish P. Sharma Memorial Scholarship
Talal Khan (Economics), Corwyn Madrone (Religion), and Ashley Somwaru (English)
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis
Sarah Truchon
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper
Jaehyung Kim
James M. McCutcheon Memorial Endowed Scholarship for History
Elisabeth Pearson
John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship in History
Terava Casey and Tokikake Ii
Barbara Bennett Peterson Graduate Student Support Fund
Jack Dunn and Jaehyung Kim
Dr. Mimi Henriksen Memorial Scholarship
Sakurako Miyakawa
Daniel W.Y. Kwok Award for Graduate Student Research
Sulim Kim, Wonkeun Lee, and Tess Schwalger
Outstanding Teaching Assistant
Zi Ye
Summer Dissertation Scholarship
Lee English, Tokikake Ii, Zachary Long, and Robert York
Faculty Awards and Recognition
Jerry H. Bentley Faculty Award in World History
Prof. Joseph Foukona and Prof. Harrison Kim
Board of Regents Medal for Excellence in Teaching
Prof. Monica LaBriola
2021-22 Awards
Undergraduate Awards
Ishi Sakurai Scholarship in Asian History
Jacob Graham
Kuykendall Prize for Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student
Chelsie Sablan
Taraknath Das Prize for Undergraduate Excellence in Asian Studies
Justin Yee
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners (PDF)
Graduate Awards
Jerry H. Bentley Scholarship in World History
Carissa Chew and Jaehyung Kim
Jagdish P. Sharma Memorial Scholarship
Carissa Chew (History), Muhammad Ijaz (Communications), and Saloni Mahajan (Performance Studies)
UH Library Treasures Scholarship
Carissa Chew
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis
Peter Bushell
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper
Herman Lim
James M. McCutcheon Memorial Endowed Scholarship for History
Asako Moody
John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship in History
Jaewon Kim, Sulim Kim, and Wonkeun Lee (2021-22)
Hosub Hwang (2022-23)
Barbara Bennett Peterson Graduate Student Support Fund
Benjamin Moseley
Daniel Kwok Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant
Hosub Hwang and Ami Mulligan
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners (PDF)
Faculty Awards and Recognition
Jerry H. Bentley Faculty Award in World History
Prof. Monica LaBriola and Prof. John Rosa
UH Endowment for the Humanities Summer Research Award
Prof. Frank Zelko
2020-21 Awards
Undergraduate Awards
Ishi Sakurai Scholarship in Asian History
Samuel Ehrhart and Justin Yee
Kuykendall Prize for Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student
Mākena Rivera-Concannon
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Graduate Awards
Jerry H. Bentley Scholarship in World History
Adrian Alarilla, Terri-Lee Bixby, and Wonkeun Lee
Jagdish P. Sharma Memorial Scholarship
Daniel Adel (Geography), Marina George (Art History), Sandy Kim (Department of Urban & Regional Planning), and Anupama Reddy (Linguistics)
The Barbara B. Peterson Award for Graduate Student Excellence in American History
Chase Benbow
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper Produced in a Graduate Seminar
Zi (Chelly) Ye
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis
Miranda Kam
The Daniel Kwok Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant
Kelli Acopan and Chase Benbow
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Faculty Awards and Recognition
Jerry H. Bentley Faculty Award in World History
Prof. Monica LaBriola and Prof. Frank Zelko
2019-20 Awards
Undergraduate Awards
Kuykendall Prize for Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student (Co-recipients)
Sophia Deming & Justin Yee
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Graduate Awards
Jagdish P. Sharma Memorial Scholarship
Maria Houar (Theatre & Dance), Irmak Yazici (Political Science), Smrity Ramavarapu (Botany)
The Barbara B. Peterson Award for Graduate Student Excellence in American History
Ami Mulligan
The Taraknath Das Prize for Best Paper in Asian History by a Graduate Student
Peter Bushell
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper Produced in a Graduate Seminar
Miranda Kam
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis
Stephen Garrett
The Daniel Kwok Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant (Co-recipients)
Kale Kanaeholo & Toshiaki Liu
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
2018-19 Awards
Undergraduate Awards
Kuykendall Prize for Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student
Katlynn Baker
Kuykendall Prize for Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student (Honorable Mention)
Lewis Okashimo
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Graduate Awards
The Barbara B. Peterson Award for Graduate Student Excellence in American History
Peyton Bailey
The Taraknath Das Prize for Best Paper in Asian History by a Graduate Student (Co-recipients)
Adrian Alarilla & Sulim Kim
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper Produced in a Graduate Seminar
Lauren Hauck
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis
Amanda Sullivan-Lee
The Daniel Kwok Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant
Garrett Hillyer
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship in History
Garrett Hillyer
The James M. McCutcheon Memorial Endowed Scholarship for History
Chase Benbow
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
2017-18 Awards
Undergraduate Awards
Kuykendall Prize for Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student (Co-recipients)
Kelli Acopan & Chad Wolke
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Graduate Awards
The Pacific Circle Editorial Award (granted to the Editorial Assistant for the Bulletin of the Pacific Circle)
Michael Kline
The Barbara B. Peterson Award for Graduate Student Excellence in American History
Shirley Buchanan
The Taraknath Das Prize for Best Paper in Asian History by a Graduate Student
Stephen Garrett
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper Produced in a Graduate Seminar
Tokikake Ii
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis (Co-recipients)
Sarah Tamashiro & Steven Fluckiger
The Daniel Kwok Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant
Zachary Long
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship in History
Mei Xu
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Faculty Awards and Recognition
College of Arts & Humanities Junior Faculty Research Award
Prof. Harrison Kim
2016-17 Awards
Undergraduate Awards
Danny Kaleikini/Kahala Hilton Hotel Scholarship
Caroline Kikkawa
Kuykendall Prize for Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student
Miranda Kam
Kuykendall Prize for Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student (Runners-up)
Sherra Dugan & Emily Ko
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Graduate Awards
World History Association Regional Conference Best Paper Prize
Lee English
“Does China fit within Current World History Parameters?”
The Pacific Circle Editorial Award (granted to the Editorial Assistant for the Bulletin of the Pacific Circle)
Michael Kline
The Barbara B. Peterson Award for Graduate Student Excellence in American History
Alex Holowicki
The Taraknath Das Prize for Best Paper in Asian History by a Graduate Student (Co-recipients)
Steven Fluckiger & Toshiaki Liu
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper Produced in a Graduate Seminar
Michael Corsi
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper Produced in a Graduate Seminar (First Runner-Up)
Tokikake Ii
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper Produced in a Graduate Seminar (Second Runner-Up)
Stephen Garrett
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis (Co-recipients)
Noah Dolim & Catherine Ulep
The Daniel Kwok Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant
Robert York
The Robert K. Sakai Award for East Asian History
Mei Xu
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship in History
Shirley Buchanan
Jerry Bentley Endowed Scholarship in World History
Tomoko Fukushima
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Faculty Awards and Recognition
College of Arts & Humanities Excellence in Teaching Award
Prof. John Rosa
2015-16 Awards
Undergraduate Awards
Kuykendall Prize for Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student
Jeff Uyemura-Reyes
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Graduate Awards
The Pacific Circle Editorial Award (granted to the Editorial Assistant for the Bulletin of the Pacific Circle)
Michael Kline
The Barbara B. Peterson Award for Graduate Student Excellence in American History
Mark Shoberg
The Taraknath Das Prize for Best Paper in Asian History by a Graduate Student
Alhadini Conder
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper Produced in a Graduate Seminar
Michael Corsi
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Research Paper Produced in a Graduate Seminar (First Runner-Up)
Tokikake Ii
The Donald Johnson Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis
Ed Hoogland
The Daniel Kwok Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant
Hieu Phung
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship in History
Aaron Moralina
Matt Cavert
Jerry Bentley Endowed Scholarship in World History
Brandon Tachco
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Faculty Awards and Recognition
Peter V. Garrod Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award
Prof. Leonard Andaya
2014-15 Awards
Undergraduate Awards
Kuykendall Prize for Best Paper by an Undergraduate Student
Von Dickens Ulsa
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Graduate Awards
Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship: Tahitian Language
Matt Cavert
Alliance Française of Hawaiʻi University Scholarship Award
Matt Cavert
UHM French Department Mira-Baciu Simian Fund Award
Matt Cavert
Center for Japanese Studies Graduate Fellowship
Tomoko Fukushima
24th Annual World History Association (WHA) Conference, in
Savannah, Georgia from June 30-July 2, 2015, Student Travel Grant
Alex Holowicki
See also: List of PAT Meeting Winners
Faculty Awards and Recognition
College of Arts & Humanities Excellence in Scholarship Award
Prof. Kieko Matteson
