The Drechsel-Hubbard Endowed Fellowship for Indigenous Language-Culture Research supports students working on their native or heritage Indigenous languages, especially Polynesian languages and those of North America. The award  provides $10,000 annually and can supplement a Graduate Assistantship.

New applicants to the PhD program will be automatically considered for this award.

Dr. Emanuel Drechsel, retired UH Mānoa professor, and Dr. Teresa Makuakāne-Drechsel (Mānoa ’75, BA Liberal Studies/Linguistics) established the Drechsel-Hubbard Endowed Fellowship for Indigenous Language-Culture Research to support UH Mānoa doctoral students in linguistics working with Polynesian or North American Indigenous communities, especially those doing research on their own Indigenous languages and cultures. The initial funding for this fellowship came from Emanuel’s sister, Ms. Cornelia Drechsel, and his step-father, Dr. Stanley Lawrence Hubbard.

Emanuel and Teresa first met at the Linguistic Institute at the University of Michigan in summer 1973. At that time, Emanuel was pursuing graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Teresa was a UH Mānoa undergraduate student of linguistics. From summer through fall 1974, Emanuel attended Mānoa as a graduate exchange student; then he returned to the University of Wisconsin to complete his PhD in anthropology with an emphasis on linguistics. Meanwhile, Teresa received a master’s degree in linguistics at the University of Michigan and, subsequently, a doctorate in higher education leadership and policy from the University of Southern California.

Over the years, they have actively supported and promoted the use of Hawaiian language and cultural practices. With Teresa’s family, they established the Daniel and Lydia Makuakāne Endowed Scholarship at UH Hilo. Now, with Emanuel’s family, they add to the lasting impact on advanced scholarship at UH Mānoa.