David Kekaulike Sing was appointed to the National Endowment for the Humanities advisory board last week.
Sing, a professor emeritus at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, is known for being a pioneer of Native Hawaiian education.
He’s the founder and first president of the Native Hawaiian Education Association and was awarded the National Indian Education Association "Educator of the Year" award in 2008.
He will now sit on the 26-member panel tasked with reviewing grant applications and advising the NEH chair.
The NEH is an independent federal agency created in 1965 and is one of the largest funders of the humanities programs in the U.S.
The grants go to cultural institutions like museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television and radio stations.
Sing said that he adds a Pacific perspective to the council.
“We’re talking about millions of dollars that’s in the budget for the NEH,” Sing told HPR. “It’s a big kuleana (responsibility). They have been seeking someone that was from Hawaiʻi or the Pacific to represent that part of the nation.”
Sing was nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December.
