Two Hawaii residents have been selected in this year’s group of Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients.
Pianist, activist and philanthropist Ginny Tiu and businessman and philanthropist Warren Luke will receive the award at today’s ceremony on Ellis Island.
“They devoted a great deal, and they’re exemplary citizens who have done a lot of good for the society,” said Ellis Island Honors Society board member Yue-Sai Kan, who nominated both Tiu and Luke.
Aside from being an incredible pianist, few have devoted their lives to philanthropy with as much grace and devotion as Tiu, Kan said. In Luke’s case, Kan said, “Everywhere you look, there’s something that they (Luke and his family) have done which makes the society a better society.”
The Ellis Island Honors Society awards medals to distinguished people of diverse backgrounds who have selflessly worked to better their community, according to their website. Some of the past honorees have included Presidents Joe Biden and Ronald Reagan, Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize nominee Muhammad Ali and former Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt.
Alongside Tiu and Luke, 90 other recipients will be recognized at today’s ceremony.
Luke, who is a fourth-generation Chinese American, has lived in Hawaii nearly all of his life. After graduating with an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, he decided to return to Hawaii rather than remain on the mainland and work for a large, multinational company like many of his peers, he said.
Once home, he began observing needs in the community and seeking ways to support it. He helped found Hawaii National Bancshares as a holding company for Hawaii National Bank, which his grandfather founded. The bank would often sponsor community events such as Chinese films for the Hawaii International Film Festival, which helped build relationships with Chinese film producers such as Zhang Yimou.
Luke has served as a member of numerous national, corporate and community boards, including the National Board of Governors of the American Red Cross, where he helped strengthen ties with the Red Cross Society of China. He also helped to create and fund the Wo International Center at Punahou, and has been involved in various facets of the real estate industry. As a chair on the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council, Luke also works to help expose high school students to Asia Pacific affairs, with the hope that they will grow up with a better understanding of international worldviews.
Tiu moved to the United States from the Philippines at the age of 5, after her prodigious talent for the piano was discovered by American television show host Ed Sullivan. She has performed at Carnegie Hall and for Presidents John F. Kennedy and George W. Bush.
Growing up as a performer, she spent much of her youth traveling and earning a living at a young age. At about 20 years old, after returning to Hawaii, Tiu began to turn her attention to another passion: helping underserved children, orphans and animals.
She has since funded the creation of the Ginny Tiu Spay and Neuter Clinic and now serves on several nonprofit boards, including those of the Hawaiian Humane Society, the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, the University of Hawaii Foundation board of trustees and the Animal Legal Defense Fund. She continues to actively participate in fundraising events and continues to foster dogs while owning 10 adopted shelter dogs of her own.
To learn more about this year’s Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients, visit eihonors.org/medalists2023.
Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
