U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim to speak at UOG graduation

Yuri Kim is the U.S. ambassador to Albania. She is the first U.S. ambassador from Guam and also the first Korean-American woman to be a U.S. ambassador. 

“Ambassador Kim’s experience in diplomacy and international relations is so relevant to the global issues we’re experiencing today. And having grown up in Guam, she will be a relatable and inspirational role model for our graduates as Guam’s next generation of leaders,” said UOG President Thomas W. Krise.

Kim immigrated to Guam with her family in 1976 when she was 4 years old and later graduated from the Academy of Our Lady of Guam. She earned a bachelor’s from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s from the University of Cambridge (U.K.).

She began her role as the U.S. ambassador to Albania this past January. A career diplomat, Kim has worked on key foreign policy and national security challenges across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and was on an American delegation in talks focused on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

She has served as the director of the Office of Southern European Affairs in the State Department from 2018–2019, responsible for Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and the broader Eastern Mediterranean region, and as director of the Office of European Security and Political-Military Affairs, responsible for NATO and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

She also previously served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of state, a special assistant to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and a special assistant to the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Her overseas assignments have included Turkey, Iraq, South Korea, Japan, and China.

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Mary Therese Perez Hattori, BEd, MEd, EdD

Director, Pacific Islands Development Program, East-West Center

Dr. Hattori is a daughter of Guam, of the clan Familian Titang, born to Paul Mitsuo Hattori† of Kalihi, O’ahu and Fermina Leon Guerrero Perez† of the village of Chalan Pago. She is sister to Anne, Margaret†, Yvonne, Paul, Stephen, Thomas, Barbara, and Robert, mother of Timothy Mitsuo Hattori Sasaki, wife to William Jay Talley of Ohio and currently resides in Honolulu on the island of O’ahu, Hawai‘i.

Interested in education since a young age, she completed a B.Ed. and Professional Diploma in Secondary Social Studies with a concentration in Pacific Islands History, an M.Ed. in Educational Technology, and an Ed.D. in Professional Educational Practice from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Her dissertation focuses on culturally responsive educational technology from Pacific Islander perspectives.

She currently serves as Director of the Pacific Islands Development Program with the East-West Center which is an independent non-profit organization, and previously enjoyed a long career in various technology and education-related positions, including: Scholarship Program Specialist with the East-West Center’s Education Program; Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Chaminade University of Honolulu; Outreach Director for the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai’i-Mānoa; Assoc. Professor of Information Technology and Coordinator for the Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Technology at Kapi’olani Community College; Academic Advisor for Student Services units in Education and Liberal Arts at the University of Hawai’i-Mānoa.

Dr. Hattori’s academic interests include culturally sustaining education and leadership, leadership development, digital leadership, instructional design for online learning environments, and indigenous research methodologies. She is an occasional lecturer and adjunct faculty in Pacific Studies, Learning Design and Technology, and several Educational Doctorate programs in the US. She enjoys providing mentoring and serving on dissertation committees for Pacific islander students.

She also provides service to boards of non-profit organizations such as the Hawai’i Council for the Humanities and the Honolulu Printmakers, and was recently confirmed by the Hawai’i State Legislature as a member of the Board of Education. Dr. Hattori is committed to holistic development of communities and is also a community organizer, advocate for Pacific Islanders in the US, public speaker, author, and poet. She also values the power of the arts to provide opportunities for sharing and sustaining indigenous cultures and is co-founder and co-organizer of numerous events that celebrate cultural knowledges and heritages, most notably the Cultural Animation Film Festival (http://caffest.com/ ) and the Celebrate Micronesia Festival. She teaches poetry workshops for/with Pacific Islander youth and was recently awarded a residency by the Moloka’i Arts and Cultural Center and will serve as their Artist in Residence later this year.

Learn more about Dr. Mary Therese Perez Hattori at https://maryhattori.com/