Energy research team quits, slams center’s leadership

Internationally renowned energy expert Fereidun Fesharaki, the most senior employee at the East-West Center in Manoa, and three of his colleagues resigned this week, decrying poor leadership, micromanagement and a lack of transparency under the federally funded center’s longtime president.

The former employees, comprising the center’s energy research unit, say Charles Morrison, the center’s president since 1998, has weakened the institution’s research capabilities through a series of staffing cuts and has failed to set up the center for success as it faces drastic budget cuts from the federal government.

"I am positive that under his leadership the center will go down and disappear. If I wasn’t positive, I wouldn’t have done this," Fesharaki told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Friday.

The resignations come as the center, adjacent to the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus and recognized as an institution for public diplomacy in the Asia Pacific region, says it’s shifted to a new business model that is less dependent on federal funding — a claim Fesharaki debates.

Established by Congress in 1960, the center is an independent nonprofit with a mission to promote better relations between the United States and the Asia Pacific through cooperative study, training and research. It received $16.7 million in funding from the federal government during the last fiscal year. President Barack Obama’s proposed budget includes $10.8 million for the center, representing a potential 35 percent cut.

"We have resigned to make a statement and focus attention on internal problems of the Center," Fesharaki and his colleagues wrote in an email to staff Tuesday. "We believe that the Center is at a vulnerable stage and can only survive if critical decisions are made and a whole new approach is adopted. We are convinced there is a need for leadership change and fresh blood to energize the Center."

East-West Center spokeswoman Karen Knudsen declined to comment on most of the claims in the open letter, describing the complaints as "strong philosophical differences."

Honolulu attorney R. Brian Tsujimura, chairman of the center’s board of governors, referred to Knudsen for comment.

Fesharaki, 66, led the center’s energy research team and was a senior fellow for 34 years. Kang Wu, another senior fellow for more than two decades; project specialist Tomoko Hosoe, who worked at the center for 12 years; and secretary Gayle Sueda, who joined the center 29 years ago, also resigned, effective Tuesday.

"They all worked on energy issues. We won’t be focusing on energy per se now," Knudsen said. "The East-West Center has shifted to a new business model, one that is less dependent on appropriated support. We will still do research in many different areas, with a focus on leadership training."

The center previously enjoyed full federal funding, with the support of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye as chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. But during budget talks in 2011, Republicans in Congress argued the center should be privatized and voted to completely eliminate funding, questioning the East-West Center’s value and criticizing the earmarks it had been receiving.

Inouye was able to secure $16.7 million for fiscal 2012 — down from about $21 million each of the previous three years — but cuts have again been proposed and funding is even more uncertain given the senator’s death in December 2012.

Fesharaki said the center under Morrison "squandered" years of "guaranteed funding" through Inouye and has failed to establish a foundation for the center to succeed in a post-Inouye era. He said the center needed to create a private-sector revenue stream based on substantive research and education — similar to what he’s done with his London-based FACTS Global Energy consulting firm, which has 10 offices and 100 staff worldwide.

"Instead of building a niche at the center, Charles Morrison has abolished research programs. There were five different research programs; he’s reduced it to one," Fesharaki said. "He’s been in office 16 years, and the proof of the pudding is in the taste."

Fesharaki stressed that the group didn’t speak out to try to gain power. "We quit. We want people to pay attention to the situation," he said, adding that he’s tried unsuccessfully to meet with board chairman Tsujimura several times.

Both U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, who was appointed to replace Inouye, and U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said through spokespeople that they’re trying to secure additional funding for the center.

Meanwhile, Knudsen said the center has been working to increase its outside funding through fundraising and other avenues. She noted that nearly half of the center’s $32 million in revenues for the past year came from outside grants and contracts.

But Fesharaki argues the external funds are actually "pass through" dollars the center distributes or administers on behalf of other entities, including foreign governments seeking to spend money on programs through the center.

"If it was real money, the center would be in great shape and shouldn’t worry about federal budget cuts," he said.

Fesharaki, who for years has donated his take-home pay to benefit students at the center, said he wouldn’t consider returning to the center.

"I would make donations if it is properly run. I want it to survive. I owe it a lot,"he said.