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Date: Monday, July 22, 2002
Contact: Paula Thomas, (808) 933-3112
For Immediate Release
Book honors late UH Hilo dean
Book honors late UH Hilo dean
The first dean of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo’s College of Agriculture (currently known as the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management (CAFNRM)) is honored in the recently published Fred Tom: Son of Hawai`i. Written by his wife, Nancy, the book is a warm and personal narrative about the late Fred Tom (1920-1993), a man devoted to family, friends and community who lived out his ideals of integrity, honesty, and hard work.
“Our children had wonderful memories of their father, but knew little about his history,” Nancy Tom explained. “They wanted something about Fred that they could pass on to their children and others, and that’s why I decided to write the book.”
The self-published account details the late Tom’s rise from humble beginnings to become a full professor at Cornell University in New York, and his triumphant return to his beloved Hawai`i.
Raised on Maui in a poor family and one of seven children, Tom always studied hard and worked through his high school years in the piggery at Lahainaluna School. After earning one of only six statewide territorial scholarships in 1938, he attended the University of Hawai`i at Manoa to study agriculture. He supplemented his $60 per semester scholarship by pumping gas, milking cows and bottling the milk. Although he earned the scholarship for four consecutive years, he needed only 3 ˝ years to receive his BS with a 3.7 GPA.
“Through hard work and a desire to become educated, Fred was able to over-achieve,” Tom’s wife said. “ He believed education was the key to accomplishing great things, because a college degree would not only help your job search, but enable you to command a higher wage.”
His longtime relationship with Cornell University began in 1955 after he earned his Master’s in Agricultural Education and Ph.D. in administration from the prestigious institution. He initially declined a job offer from Cornell to return to Hawai‘i, where he went to work as a vocational agriculture teacher at Honoka‘a High School. But eight months later, Cornell extended a second offer that he could not refuse, so he headed back to his alma mater in upstate New York.
“Cornell was the only school Fred applied to for his graduate work because of its reputation,” Tom’s wife, Nancy, explained. “His decision to accept a teaching position there made a critical difference in his life.”
He would spend the next 20 years teaching agriculture at Cornell and traveling throughout the world with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation and the World Bank, among other organizations. Tom proved to be quite a popular professor, much admired by his colleagues for his clear thinking, dedication, and love of teaching. His work in the international arena was always thorough.
Comfortable in social situations and a consummate public speaker, he was much admired and respected as an overseas project manager. It is therefore not surprising that during this period, he rose to the level of full professor and spearheaded a variety of international institution-building activities.
In 1963, Tom helped develop the Cornell Diagnostic Observation and Reporting System for the Improvement of College Teaching. The new system enabled instructors to
obtain student feedback and computer generated participation for measuring effectiveness in teaching. He also trained members of the agriculture faculty.
But he never gave up his dream to return to his roots in Hawai‘i and give something back to his community. The opportunity finally came in 1975, when UH Hilo was seeking a dean for a new college of agriculture. UH Hilo hired the now-seasoned Tom away from Cornell and he served as acting dean for one year until his appointment to the permanent position was approved in 1976.
Fred Tom was instrumental in building UH Hilo’s agricultural program literally from the ground up. He persevered to obtain funds for the development of the University’s farm, where students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a variety of agricultural activities. Today, the 110-acre farm laboratory, carved out of the a`a and pahoehoe landscape in Paneawa, provides students a unique place to translate theory into practice.
“Fred Tom may well have been the finest educator Hawai‘i has ever produced, and he is still educating through the thousands of students and teachers he touched across the world during his long career and the curricula he developed,” said Bert Fraleigh, Ph.D., a longtime friend and admirer who retired from the foreign service. “He is still educating those who read this short biography. Hopefully that will include many young Americans desperately in need of a believable role model.”
Proceeds from the sale of Fred Tom: Son of Hawai‘i will support the Frederick Tom Memorial Scholarship Fund at UH Hilo. To purchase a copy ($10), contact Professor Jack Fujii at CAFNRM at 933-0850 or email jfujii@hawaii.edu.
The Frederick Tom Memorial Scholarship was established following Fred’s
death in 1993 as his widow, faculty, students and the community donated $10,000. Interest from the fund finances an annual scholarship for a student in CAFNRM. Recipients must be new entering freshmen graduating from a local high school or students entering the upcoming academic year with junior or senior class standing and a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5. Students must demonstrate not only financial need but also the ability to apply agricultural studies to a future career.
“Fred’s Horatio Alger-like story proved that a poor minority boy can rise from
the humblest of circumstances to any position of influence and leadership he aspires to through hard work, education and selfless dedication to helping others,” noted Fraleigh.
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