Sherry Menor-McNamara, the youngest and first female president and chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, will deliver the keynote address at the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s fall commencement at 9 a.m. Saturday in Vulcan Gymnasium.
Students have petitioned for a total of 290 degrees and/or certificates from the colleges of Arts and Sciences (217), Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management (24), Business and Economics (31), Pharmacy (one) and Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani College of Hawaiian Language (eight), while nine others are candidates for various post-graduate honors.
Menor-McNamara was born in Tokyo, raised in Hilo and graduated from Waiakea High School. Her history-making appointment as head of the 164-year-old chamber came in September 2013 after serving as chief operating officer and senior vice president of government affairs.
She previously served as events manager for ESPN Sports’ Sheraton Hawaii Bowl and is a member of the event’s executive committee. Menor-McNamara has worked for various companies around the world, including Sony Corp. and Sony Pictures Entertainment, Estee Lauder, Field Group, Elton John Production and the CBS News magazine “60 Minutes.”
Her political experience includes positions with the state Legislature and former U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka.
Menor-McNamara earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Los Angeles, a juris doctorate from the William S. Richardson School of Law, and MBA from the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Zachary Tman, an anthropology and cell and molecular biology major, who also is pursuing a minor in chemistry, represents the graduating class as student speaker.
Tman, a native of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia, has maintained a cumulative 3.62 gpa since coming to UH-Hilo in fall 2010. His academic achievements have earned him numerous honors, including the Yap State and FSM National Scholarships, which he has held since his freshman year.
He also has been an Asian-Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund scholar since 2013. His community activities have focused on efforts to combat the high rate of suicide among Hawaii’s youth.
Tman’s campus work has been two-fold, beginning with his scientific research work in the Natural Sciences Department. He has worked with Dr. Norbert Furumo designing a biotechnology lab course, which he hopes will eventually lead to a biotechnology degree program.
Next spring, he’ll be assisting Dr. Misaki Takabayashi in her research on coral bleaching.
His post-graduation plans include a trip this summer to Heidelberg, Germany, to work at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory before joining Takabayashi on her coral bleaching research.
