CTAHR capped its first century by honoring our exceptional students, staff, faculty, and friends at the Centennial Homecoming and Awards Celebration, held April 12, 2007 at Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.

UH President David McClain, U.S. Representative Mazie Hirono, and Hawai‘i Board of Agriculture Chairwoman Sandra Kunimoto addressed the gathering, paying tribute to the important roles that agriculture, the university, and its founding college, CTAHR, have played in nurturing our state. Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann gently roasted and shared a karaoke duet with Nalo Farms’ owner/operator Dean Okimoto, who received the 2007 Ka Lei Hano Heritage Award for his contributions as president of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation and a longtime CTAHR advisor. The year’s Outstanding Alumnus was Dr. Nan-Yao Su, the inventor of DowAgrosciences’ Sentricon© system for elimination of subterranean termite colonies.

Hawai‘i’s diversified crops took a prominent place at the table as guests enjoyed a banquet featuring delicious, locally grown foods. The Island Fresh menu included Big Island beef, Hamakua mushrooms, Nalo Farms micro greens, and fruits and vegetables from Aloun Farms. Another banquet headliner was ‘Centennial’, a green-and-white anthurium created through a research and breeding program that was established in 1950 by CTAHR alumnus and emeritus professor Haruyuki Kamemoto and continues today under professor Heidi Kuehnle. This school-colors anthurium is one of about 40 produced at CTAHR during the past six decades.

With more than $200,000 in donations linked to the event, the banquet combined fun with fundraising. The Hawaii Florists and Shippers Association expanded to $100,000 their scholarship endowment for agriculture students throughout the UH system, and the Hawai‘i Association of Family and Consumer Sciences established two endowments of $50,000 each to support students in the college’s Apparel Product Design and Merchandising and Family Resources programs, respectively. Mahalo to everyone who made the Centennial celebration so special. Your help and generosity made the party a great finish to CTAHR’s first century