Faculty Highlights – Spring 2022

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Saunders Hall

Recent highlights from PUBA Faculty.

Dr. Morgen Johansen

In addition to publishing an edited volume on Social Equity in the Asia-Pacific Region in 2020, Dr. Johansen has since published four articles related to organizational justice and LGBT employees, volunteerism in Hawai’i during COVID, and the effects of employee engagement and performance information use on hospital performance. Dr. Johansen was recently awarded a grant, along with PUBA’s Dr. Hung, to study health equity and Hawai’i’s nonprofits. She also serves as an Associate Editor for the Australian Journal of Public Administration.

Dr. Helen H. Yu

During the past two years, Dr. Yu served as the Acting Director of PUBA from Jun-Dec 2021 while Dr. Johansen was on sabbatical leave. She also renewed her appointment to serve as the Graduate Chair through Jan 2024. As for research, she has published 10 papers during this timeframe and was recently awarded an SSRI grant to study community policing in Honolulu. Finally, Dr. Yu is a Board Member of a national professional association and is the Associate Editor of Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs.

Dr. David Nixon

Dr. Nixon recently stepped down after serving two years as President of the Kokonut Koalition, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting, preserving and rehabilitating the Koko Crater Stairs in Honolulu, Hawai’i. In 2021, he led a crew in completing the renovations of the Koko Crater Stairs. It was the largest volunteer public works project in state history.

Dr. Jennifer Kagan

Dr. Jennifer Kagan currently organizes a virtual bimonthly seminar on climate change and the voluntary sector that attracts scholars from around the world, and she is serving as a guest editor for an upcoming special issue on the same topic in Nonprofit Policy Forum. Recently, she published articles in Society and Natural Resources and Policy Studies Journal, and she presented her work at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference in Chicago.

Dr. Chiako Hung

Dr. Hung published more than 10 papers in the past three years and was nominated for a 2022 UH teaching award. He also serves as an adviser for the Public Administration Student Organization, a treasurer for a professional association, and a member for a financial committee.