The East–West Center (EWC), or the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States as part of Cold War diplomatic efforts.
Celeste Connors has served as the Center’s president and chief executive since July 1, 2025, where it is headquartered in Honolulu at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
History
The East-West Center was established to facilitate Cold War-era diplomacy between the United States and its allies through technical interchange. Hawaii had become an important site for U.S. cultural diplomacy, military training, research, and as a staging ground for the U.S. war in Vietnam. In its early stages, the East-West Center only admitted students from countries deemed friendly to the United States.
"The East–West Center originated as a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty initiative with a February 16, 1959, memo from professor Murray Turnbull, then acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, to political science professor Norman Meller, then chairperson of the faculty senate, that proposed the creation of an International College of Cultural Affairs. However, University of Hawaiʻi President Laurence H. Snyder stated that budgetary constraints prevented proceeding at the time with the idea".Kamins (1998), pages 77–81.
Two months later, following radio reports of an April 16, 1959 speech in Washington, D.C. by then Senator Lyndon Johnson (D-Texas) that proposed the creation of an international university in Hawaii "as a meeting place for the intellectuals of the East and the West," history professor John Stalker and Meller urged President Snyder to respond at once to Johnson's suggestion.Kamins (1998), pages 77–81. With the prospect of federal funding, President Snyder appointed a faculty committee chaired by Turnbull to rapidly prepare a substantive proposal for creating an international college.Kamins (1998), pages 77–81.
On June 9, 1959, Senator Johnson introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate to establish an educational center in Hawaii to provide for "cultural and technical interchange between East and West," with a companion bill introduced in the U.S. House by Delegate John A. Burns (D-T.H.);Kamins (1998), pages 77–81.Boylan (2000), pages 168–169. the Mutual Security Act of 1959, a renewal of the original Mutual Security Act, signed by U.S. President Eisenhower on July 24, 1959, called on the State Department to study the idea and report back to Congress by January 3, 1960.U.S. Congress (1962), pages 5, 194–196.
On May 14, 1960, President Eisenhower signed the Mutual Security Act of 1960 which authorized the creation of a Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West (East–West Center) at the University of Hawaiʻi, and on August 31, 1960, signed the Department of State Appropriation Act, 1961, which appropriated $10 million for the center (including $8.2 million in capital spending for six new buildings), and on September 30, 1961, President Kennedy signed Supplemental Appropriation Act, 1962, which appropriated an additional $3.3 million for the center.U.S. Congress (1962), pages 5, 194–196.
On October 25, 1960, the University of Hawaiʻi signed a grant-in-aid agreement with the State Department to establish and operate the East–West Center, and received its first installment of $1.1 million in federal funding on November 8, 1960.U.S. Congress (1962), pages 5, 194–196, 200.
From its founding, the East-West Center's oversight from, and relationship with, the federal government resulted in scrutiny and disagreements. Among those favoring strong federal control was Congressman John Rooney, who in 1962 criticized the East-West Center for what he described as "not properly screening applicants" and thereby allowing "left wing foul balls" into the program." The East-West Center was staffed with U.S. diplomats and foreign service staff. According to academic Wendy Cheng, the Center's assistant director for American Studies was widely believed to monitor the center for "lefties" and "reds".
On May 9, 1961, then U.S. vice president Lyndon Johnson was a guest at groundbreaking ceremonies for the East–West Center's first six buildings.Kamins (1998), pages 78–79.Kobayashi (1983), page 127. Five of the new buildings, designed by architect I. M. Pei, were built along the new East–West Road where a new East–West Center campus just west of Manoa Stream on the east side of the university campus replaced chicken coops, temporary wooden buildings for faculty housing, and the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station.Kobayashi (1983), pages 111–112, 114, 122–132. A sixth building built under the federal grant for the East–West Center was Edmondson Hall, designed by architect Albin Kubala and built on McCarthy Mall.Kobayashi (1983), pages 122–126.
Four of the six buildings were completed and opened in September 1962: Edmondson Hall (a four-story building containing classrooms and laboratories), Kennedy Theatre (an 800-seat theatre), Hale Kuahine (a four-story women's dormitory for 120 students), and Lincoln Hall (a four-story residence hall for senior scholars and faculty).Kobayashi (1983), pages 111–112, 114, 122–132. The other two buildings: Jefferson Hall (a four-story conference center, cafeteria, and administrative office building) and Hale Manoa (a 13-story men's dormitory for 480 students) were completed and opened in September 1963.Kobayashi (1983), pages 111–112, 114, 122–132. "Seien" (Serene Garden), a Japanese garden designed by Kenzo Ogata of Tokyo, and located behind Jefferson Hall, was a 1963 gift of Japanese business leaders; the Japanese tea house Chashitsu Jakuan (Cottage of Tranquility) in the garden was presented to the university in 1972 by Sen Sōshitsu, the 15th-generation grand tea master of the Urasenke Foundation.Kobayashi (1983), pages 126, 128-129.
In May 1967, the Thai Pavilion, a gift of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit of Thailand in 1964, was assembled just in time for King Adulyadej's dedication of the pavilion on June 6, 1967; it is located between Lincoln Hall and Jefferson Hall, in front of Hale Kuahine.Kobayashi (1983), pages 140–141, 143.
In 1968, recent East-West Center student Chen Yu-hsi was arrested by the Republic of China's (ROC) Kuomintang (KMT) government based on KMT surveillance of Chen in the United States. The Taiwan Garrison Command alleged that he had read communist literature including works by Mao Zedong while at the East-West Center library. The East-West Center administration and student associations sent an observer to Chen's July 1968 trial where he was convicted of sedition and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment. Over the course of his incarceration, students protested at the University of Hawaiʻi campus, the ROC consulate, and the East-West Center Chancellor's office. Chen was released in 1971 after receiving amnesty.
In 1969, the four-story wing of Moore Hall designed by architect Hideo Murakami was built with East–West Center federal funds on the west side of East–West Road across from Lincoln Hall.Kobayashi (1983), pages 114, 146, 148. Harlan Cleveland was president of the University of Hawaiʻi. During 1969-1974, the university added a medical school, a law school and an international astronomy project.
In 1970, the East-West Center Students Association responded to the U.S. invasion of Cambodia by endorsing a general strike by the university community and issuing a statement condemning the U.S. escalation, which the association described as demonstrating the contradictions between the East-West Center's stated goals and U.S. foreign policy.
In 1977, John A. Burns Hall, located south of Hale Manoa on the East–West Center campus, was completed. The four-story building for administrative offices was designed by architect John Hara to integrate with the style of the other East–West Center buildings (its windows mimic those of Lincoln Hall). It was built with State of Hawaii funds to compensate the federal government for the university's use of Edmondson Hall, the Kennedy Theatre, and the 4-story wing of Moore Hall, which had been built with federal funds for the East–West Center.
Structure
EWC program areas include Education, Research, Seminars, a Washington, D.C. office, an Office of External Affairs and the East–West Center Foundation.
Chancellors University of Hawaiʻi art professor Murray Turnbull served as interim director and acting chancellor of the East–West Center through 1961,Kamins (1998), pages 77–81.U.S. Comptroller General (1978), page 42 (Appendix II. Principal officials concerned with matters discussed in this report). when anthropologist Alexander Spoehr, the former director (1953–1961) of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu, was appointed as the East–West Center's first chancellor, serving for two years before resigning at the end of 1963.Kamins (1998), pages 77–81.U.S. Comptroller General (1978), page 42 (Appendix II. Principal officials concerned with matters discussed in this report). University of Hawaiʻi president Thomas H. Hamilton served as acting chancellor of the East–West Center for a year and a half from January 1964–June 1965.Kamins (1998), pages 77–81.U.S. Comptroller General (1978), page 42 (Appendix II. Principal officials concerned with matters discussed in this report). In July 1965, he was succeeded by former newspaper publisher and diplomat Howard P. Jones, the former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia (1958–1965),Kamins (1998), pages 77–81.U.S. Comptroller General (1978), page 42 (Appendix II. Principal officials concerned with matters discussed in this report). who served as chancellor for three years before being succeeded in August 1968 by linguist Everett Kleinjans, the former vice president of International Christian University in Tokyo, who had lived in Asia for sixteen years.Kamins (1998), pages 77–81.U.S. Comptroller General (1978), p. 42 (Appendix II. Principal officials concerned with matters discussed in this report).
The first Native Hawaiian woman to become a general officer in the U.S. military, Major General Suzanne Vares-Lum, was appointed as president of East-West Center in 2021, becoming its first woman and the first Native Hawaiian to lead the organization since its founding.
Research Program The Research Program conducts studies on economic development, trade, energy, governance, politics, security, conflict reduction, population, health, and environment. Under the Research umbrella is the Pacific Islands Development Program (the research and training arm and regional secretariat of the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders representing 22 Pacific island nations).
Education Program The Education Program offers educational opportunities for students and professional development seminars and workshops for educators from the U.S. and the region. The Student Program is carried out in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi and other universities in Hawaii and the continental U.S. scholarships are awarded annually in an international competition. Also under the Education Program are the Asia Pacific Leadership Program (APLP) (a certificate program for graduate-level students and mid-level professionals), AsiaPacificEd and the Asian Studies Development Program (both work with primary, secondary, and college educators to infuse Asian Pacific content in curricula), and Education 2020 (a focus on new approaches to educational challenges in the Asia Pacific Region). Most of education program participants reside in EWC dormitories like Hale Manoa Dormitory.
East–West Seminars