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Donors Recognized

Member Donors Create Lasting Legacies

With foresight and generosity, members past and present have created endowments to provide continuing support for ARCS Scholar Awards.

In 1985, for example, Dr. George and Virginia Starbuck established an endowment at the University of Hawai‘i Foundation in memory of their grandson, E. Palmer Payne, Jr. The proceeds fund an ARCS Scholar Award for a University of Hawai‘i student pursuing a PhD at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. Vrirginia, "Betti" to her friends, was the eigthth president of ARCS Honolulu Chapter, serving from 1984 to 1986. The Sarah Ann Martin endowment recognizes an inaugural ARCS Honolulu board member with awards to PhD students in UHʻs College of Natural Sciences, and annual grants from the Ellen M. Koenig Memorial Fund at Hawai‘i Community Foundation support ARCS awards in any approved discipline.

The stories of remarkable women behind additional endowments appear below.

Helen Jones Farrar, headshot
Helen Jones Farrar

Born in the early 1890s to the wealthy kama‘aina family that co-founded Bank of Hawai‘i, Helen Jones attended O‘ahu College, majored in science at Smith College, and was one of the first women to obtain a driver's license on O‘ahu. She married R.J.H. Farrar and moved to Hawai‘i Island, where she became fascinated by construction of the first telescopes on Mauna Kea and the young astronomers she met. Her nephew Russel Richards established the Helen Jones Farrar Award as a fitting memorial. The award goes to an ARCS Scholar in astronomy or tropical agriculture.

Maybelle C Roth, newspaper clipping
Maybelle F. Roth

Bellingham, Wash., native Maybelle Felker earned a BS in home economics from Oregon State University and moved to Hilo following her husband’s death in 1927. She taught English in Asia and Spain, earned master’s degrees from the University of Hawai‘i and UC Berkeley, and authored A Tentative Three Year Secondary Course of Study in Spanish. After retiring as a UH associate professor, she traveled widely and was active in the Hawaiian Historical Society and Malacological Society. She established an ARCS Award for students studying conservation biology at Hawai‘i Community Foundation.

Shelagh Kresser headshot
Shelagh Scoville Kresser

Shelagh Scoville was born in Pasadena in 1928 and studied at Dominican College in San Rafael. She opened The Gallery in Hilton Hawaiian Village in 1950 to showcase contemporary work by local artists. While president of the ARCS Honolulu, she created the Federick Mosson Kresser ARCS Award in engineering in memory of her husband, president of Pacific Construction Company. Active in National Society of Arts and Letters and National League of American Pen Women, Shelagh wrote a children’s book, The Chronicles of Fitkin Le Fraise, and Ulu's Dog, a collection of short stories.

Hazel Bretzlaff Von Allen
Hazel Van Allen

Hazel Lois Van Allen was described as a “vivacious wahine” and gracious hostess with homes in Reno and Honolulu. But she was humble and private in her role as benefactress. Hazel and her husband, retired Army Col. William Van Allan, established the Bretzlaff Foundation Trust in honor of her first husband, W. Herbert Bretzlaff, to support education, the arts, and social organizations. The Bretzlaff Foundation ARCS Award supports a student in Engineering.

Charlotte Yates
Charlotte Moulton Yates

1942 Punahou School alumna Charlotte Moulton Friel was known for a lively personality and penchant for shopping. She and husband Mark Reid Yates traveled extensively and were active in the Pacific Club, Oahu Country Club, and Outrigger Canoe Club. They endowed the Dr. Guy Moulton Yates ARCS Award in medicine in memory of their son. A lifelong member of P.E.O., Charlotte supported numerous community organizations, financed acquisition of an organ console at Central Union Church, and donated works of art to various museums.

Jackie Takeshita
Jackie Takeshita

The ever elegant and gracious Jackie Takeshita attended MidPac School and University of Hawai‘i. She was active in ARCS, serviing as Honolulu President 1998–2000, and remains a patron of Ballet Hawai‘i and Hawai‘i Opera Theatre. When she and husband Clifford Laughton launched their satelite telecommincation company, they named it Columbia Communications Corp. in honor of NASAʻs space shuttle. The endowment they funded from the proceeds supports the Columbia Communications ARCS Award in astronomy.

Mona Elmore-headshot
Mona Marie Elmore

Born in 1924 in Pasadena and trained in Dewey educational pegagogy, Mona delighted in being "Mrs. George Orton Elmore." The former teacher and school superintendent and her real estate developer husband moved to Kaua‘i and then Honolulu, where they were unwavering supporters of ARCS. She sought advertures abroad and intelligently quizzed ARCS Scholars at home. ARCS Honolulu used her 2019 bequest to establish the George Orton and Mona Marie Elmore ARCS Scholar endowment, annually funding awards in astronomy, oceanography, and other approved ARCS disciplines. Read more about her gift

Cheryl Ernst
Cheryl Ernst

Born in Seattle in 1956 and trained in journalism at the University of Washington, Cheryl moved to Kailua to marry Advertiser reporter Andy Yamaguchi. Her favorite activity during 30+ years as a Univeristy of Hawai‘i public information officer—writing about scientific research—led her to ARCS. She has served several terms as chapter co-president. Cheryl used her inheritance to establish the H. Keith and Sue Ernst Endowment to honor her parentsʻ hard work, intellectual curiosity, and belief in higher education. She is active in Friends of the Library of Hawai‘i and Jane Austen Society of North America.

Jane Katayama, Mason Russo, Daniel KatayamaIt Feels So Good to Support ARCS Scholars!
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Mona Elmore Honored at Heart of Gold

ARCS Honolulu members with Mona ElmoreMona Elmore, far right, and her late husband George Elmore were celebrated as the ARCS Foundation Honolulu Chapter’s Golden Hearts during the February 2013 Heart of Gold luncheon at the Outrigger Canoe Club. A former educator with a keen interest in science and discovery, Mona has generously sponsored Honolulu’s Scholar of the Year and Scientist of the Year awards for several years. Special guest speaker Gail Grabowski, professor of environmental studies at Chaminade University, struck a chord with the story of her personal ordeal with colon-rectal cancer. Refusing to be a victim of her cancer, she became an active participant in her recovery and provided valuable information to her doctors by applying the research-based approach she learned as a scientist to analysis of her own treatments.

ARCS Honolulu Chapter 50th anniversary mark
Help it Grow
Contributions to the ARCS Foundation Honolulu Chapter Endowment support ARCS Scholars in perpetuity.

To Quote a Scholar: Mason Russo

Mason Russo in front of poster

"I have conducted comprehensive studies on two invasive insect pests in the Hawaiian Islands that are severely impacting Hawaiian ecosystems. The coconut rhinoceros beetle is spreading fast across Oahu and has reached other islands. The hala scale impacts native coastal hala forests."

Besides offsetting the high cost of living in Hawai‘i, funds from the 2024 Maybelle F. Roth ARCS Scholar and Honolulu Scholar of the Year awards would allow Mason Russo to return to Asia if an initial survey produces promising biological control agents for the battle against destructive insects that threaten Hawai‘i trees.

To Quote a Scholar: Alexandru Sasuclark

Alexandru Sasuclark headshot“My research, if successful, would add a new diagnostic toolset for medical professionals to assess risk for those already at a high risk for developing neuropsychiatric disorders.”

Honolulu ARCS Scholar Alexandru Sasuclark received Best Poster Presentation at the John A. Burns School of Medicine’s 2021 Annual Biomedical Sciences and Health Disparities Symposium. The George and Virginia Starbuck ARCS Award receipient studies the role of selenium in development of particular neurons in the brain and the perineuronal net structures that surround them. Disruption in their development is characteristic of many neurodevelopmental diseases. A University of Hawai‘i at Manoa PhD candidate in Cell and Molecular Biology, Alexandru aspires to a career in industry pursuing treatments for neurological ailments.

Read about his inspiration or watch his video

Scholar Update: Marine Biologist Shayle Matsuda

Shayle Matsuda at ocean overlook“The increasing frequency and severity of global coral bleaching events, the devastation to reef ecosystems and the communities who rely on them led to my dedication to coral reef conservation.”

As a University of Hawai‘i at Manoa doctoral candidate, 2019 Honolulu ARCS Scholar Shayle Matsuda pioneered new molecular techniques to study symbioses between coral, algae and bacteria. He continues that work as part of an international coral reef restoration project under a 2021 David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship—a premier postdoctoral program in conservation science that supports early-career scientists and seeks solutions to the most pressing conservation challenges.