$48M cleared for West Oahu campus

Gov. Linda Lingle is releasing $48 million for construction of the University of Hawaii-West Oahu campus in Kapolei.

Almost two-thirds of the money, or $31 million, will go toward building classroom, laboratory and maintenance facilities.

The rest is expected to fund a sewer line, waterline, driveways, electric power lines and other infrastructure. The money will also pay for a parking lot.

UH-West Oahu Chancellor Gene Awakuni noted the school has been without a permanent campus for 35 years. He says the campus will be for all the community members who supported the school’s efforts through those years as well as for future generations of students.

Fellowship honors geology pioneer

The daughter of a world-renowned pioneer in the study of volcanoes, geology and geophysics has created a fund to support University of Hawaii graduate students.

Thais Bullard donated $1.8 million to the university in honor of her father, Fred Mason Bullard, the University of Hawaii Foundation said last week.

The Fred M. Bullard Endowed Graduate Fellowship will support doctoral and master’s students at the Department of Geology and Geophysics and the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.

Fred Bullard dedicated his life to teaching and research. He taught geology and volcanology at the University of Texas at Austin.