Interview with Fujio Matsuda

A former University of Hawaii president discusses growing up in Kakaako, backgrounds and values of his Japanese immigrant parents, and the family saimin stand business. He also describes his schooling at Pohukaina, Washington Intermediate, and McKinley High schools. He covers his World War II service in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team's 232nd Combat Engineer Company, and post-war education at the University of Hawaii (UH), Rose Polytechnic Institute, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he researched the effects of large forces such as bombs on structures. He relates his job experiences as UH engineering professor, state department of transportation head in the Burns administration, UH vice president, and UH president. He talks about the UH: local versus nonlocal issues; relationships with the Board of Regents, faculty, and state legislature; university governance; and organized research such as the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute and Pacific International Center for High Technology Research. He also explains his views on athletics, collective bargaining for faculty, and the strong chancellor system.soldier, engineer, professor, Hawaii state director of transportation, University of Hawaii president; Japanese; male.Interview conducted in English.Stat