UH, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency sign landmark partnership agreement
Video News Release
University of Hawaiʻi
UH President Wendy Hensel and DPAA Director Kelly K. McKeague sign agreement
Link to video and sound (details below): https://go.hawaii.edu/rEM
The University of Hawaiʻi System and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) have officially entered into a new Education Partnership Agreement aimed at enhancing science and technology education while advancing DPAA’s critical mission of accounting for missing U.S. personnel from past conflicts.
The five-year agreement, signed on August 19, by UH President Wendy Hensel and DPAA Director Kelly K. McKeague, creates a formal framework for collaborative research, educational enrichment and workforce development. Under the agreement, UH students and faculty will gain access to DPAA’s scientific expertise, state-of-the-art facilities, data collections and assignment opportunities, while DPAA will benefit from UH’s innovation initiatives, academic resources, and talented staff and students.
“This partnership exemplifies how state and federal institutions can work together to inspire and nurture the next generation of researchers and public servants,” said Hensel. “Through hands-on experience and direct mentorship from DPAA experts, our students will be uniquely positioned to contribute to a mission rooted in honor, science and service.”
This agreement will also allow DPAA to continue to work with UH on joint efforts to develop new methods and technologies to support DPAA’s personnel recovery operations. Since 2021, DPAA partnered with the UH Mānoa’s Department of Anthropology to develop Cambodia’s archaeological capacity through the Cambodian Completion Initiative, which enables Cambodian archaeologists to potentially lead investigative and recovery-type accounting operations in their home country.
More recently, DPAA also worked with the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine’s Willed Body Program to develop a database of isotopic signatures of Hawaiʻi-based individuals to establish comparisons with continental U.S. American and Asian populations to help in DPAA’s efforts to distinguish Asian American personnel missing from World War II and the Korean War.
“The Daniel K. Inouye Center of Excellence, located at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, is the preeminent forensic science laboratory in the world,” said McKeague. “Through this strategic partnership with UH, DPAA is able to leverage their cutting-edge academic research and technological innovation to advance our humanitarian mission. This collaboration also provides unique educational and professional development opportunities for students and researchers who are passionate about public service and science.”
The UH and DPAA Education Partnership Agreement connects academic talent with real-world challenges, and fosters an environment where academic discovery and national service go hand in hand.
About UH Research
Research conducted by the University of Hawai‘i (UH) impacts the quality of life in the islands and around the world. As the state’s major research university, and because of Hawai‘i’s tremendous geographic diversity, UH plays a prominent role in the state’s economic growth and development through its diverse and world-renowned research and innovation programs in astronomy, earth and ocean sciences, medicine and tropical agriculture. research.hawaii.edu
About Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), a Department of Defense agency, is responsible for recovering and identifying U.S. personnel missing from World War II to the Iraq conflicts to provide the fullest possible accounting to their families and the nation. With a team of skilled historians and forensic scientists, DPAA conducts missions in 46 countries to locate and identify the remains of missing service members, reflecting the nation’s enduring commitment to leave no one behind. Learn more at dpaa.mil.
Link to video and sound (details below): https://go.hawaii.edu/rEM
VIDEO:
BROLL:
- Broll of MOU signing
- Broll of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
SOUNDBITES:
Wendy Hensel, UH President
“I can't imagine doing work that's more important than recovering and identifying our missing servicemen and women and so the opportunity to combine science and education and the laboratories and the talent, it's just a wonderful ecosystem for us to do a public service that also advances the university.”
Kelly K. McKeague, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
“The identification of Americans missing from past wars first came to Hawai‘i in 1976. Since then, it has become the preeminent forensic laboratory in the world. So with this partnership we have access to the University of Hawai‘i System.”