Chaminade University of Honolulu

Chaminade University

A Legacy Lives On

Remembering and Honoring “Mr. I”

The Chaminade University family is celebrating the life and legacy of a popular professor who left an indelible mark on his students and the campus community and who exemplified the high standards of academic excellence that is part of the University’s promise.

Ronald M. Iwamoto was a long-time biology professor at Chaminade. “Long-time” is putting it rather mildly: Mr. I, as his students called him, called the university home for 47 years, or nearly five decades. It’s not an exaggeration to say that he helped mold the university into the place it is today in very real, tangible ways.

Sadly, Iwamoto passed away in October of 2025, but his legacy endures both in the memory of Chaminade’s alumni, in the fund organized in his honor, supporting a teaching fellowship that bears his name.

Chaminade alum Angela Maroun ʻ76, who majored in biology during her time as a student on campus, remembers Iwamoto fondly. She says she first met “Mr. I” after enrolling in his Biology 203 course.

“It was his class that made me decide to be a Biology major and love science,” Maroun shared with us. “He made biology fun. He was a tough but fair and caring teacher.”

Iwamoto graduated from Punahou School in 1959, earned a BA in history from Northwestern University, and later an MS in Zoology and an MEd with a focus on Educational Foundations from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He joined Chaminade’s faculty in 1967, barely a dozen years after the University’s founding in 1955.

The long track of his academic career means Mr. I literally touched the lives of thousands of Chaminade University students, mentoring them through their studies and coursework and lining them up for successful careers post-graduation.

Though she originally hails from Syracuse, New York, Maroun said Iwamoto helped her experience the best of Hawaiʻi and its natural beauty as a local would. He went out of his way to help me feel at home, she said.

“He went the extra mile to both challenge and support each student so that they could succeed,” she recalled.

Maroun said she took other biology courses that he taught and also worked as a laboratory assistant for several of his classes. She babysat his children and introduced Mr. I to her family when they visited from Syracuse. In fact, he shared time with her and her family on a number of occasions. “He always made time for lunch, dinner, or just a visit,” she said.

Maroun said she especially remembers the island adventures Mr. I took her and her classmates on for his ecology course, the ultimate experiential learning opportunities.

“Ecology was a favorite since we went on many field trips, hikes, and ocean adventures,” she recalled. “Through him, I experienced nighttime on the reef collecting specimens for the lab, catching crabs in the mangroves, and walking during low tide for a picnic.”

Iwamoto was recognized for his excellence by both students and faculty alike.

He was honored with a prestigious Heritage Award during Founders’ Week 2000, bestowed with the Chaminade Award that year by his fellow faculty and staff members. 

Later, Dr. Iwamoto helped establish a legacy that would endure well past his own lifetime.

In 2018, he and other Chaminade community members formed a committee and established the Ronald M. Iwamoto Teaching Fellowship in Biology, the first teaching fellowship established at the university.

Donors came forward to seed the fellowship with a $50,000 endowment. The fellowship was first awarded to Chaminade Assistant Professor Frederique Kandel in 2019, recognized for her commitment to professional development in teaching and pedagogy.

Ron Iwamoto left our world on October 21, 2025, but he lives on through the mark he left on Chaminade University, his legacy establishing the university’s science curriculum, and in his students and colleagues’ cherished memories.

“He was just so much fun and a joy to be around,” Maroun said. “How lucky I was to cross paths with Mr. I.”

If you would like to make a gift in support of the Ronald M. Iwamoto Teaching Fellowship in Biology, please click here.

Second Annual Exposure Fair and Hiring Blitz

The Second Annual Exposure Fair and Hiring Blitz welcomed around 1,000 middle school, high school and college students across nine Honolulu schools and universities on April 27, 2026. It was held at the St. Louis High School Gym as a “speed-dating” style networking event for students to meet professionals in many industries across our islands. Students were given one minute to decide which organization they’d like to hear more about for the next five minutes. Each student had the opportunity to meet with about 10 local business leaders to explore careers and internships, and were encouraged to apply for open positions.

Professor Wendy Lam’s BU 470 Senior Field Experience class from Chaminade University hosted the event. The BU 470 students were responsible for planning, organizing, leading, and executing the event. There were teams for Coordination, Business Development, Logistics, Communications, Social Media, and Human Resources. The teams had different responsibilities but would all collaborate to make major decisions. 

Professor Lam said, “My favorite part of the event is seeing our team’s ability to troubleshoot, adapt, solve problems, and work together to make a difference for the community.” The BU 470 students partnered with ClimbHI and St. Louis School. ClimbHI is a nonprofit organization that inspires students to finish high school and continue their education or begin their career. 


Learn more about ClimbHI: https://climbhi.org/

A Student’s Second Chance

A Second Chance: From Prison to Master’s Degree

“Everybody deserves a second chance,” Kimmy Takata stated. Although she didn’t have an easy start, Kimmy beat the odds that were stacked against her. She went into prison at a third-grade reading level and it’s where she says her education journey began. 

She received her GED in 2007 when she was in prison in Kentucky. “What inspired me was the people that were locked up with me and locked down with me, they were getting valedictorian and I didn’t even know what that was,” Kimmy said. She said those same people supported her and taught her how to read, write an essay, math, English, and helped prepare her for her GED. 

Getting her GED helped change her mindset, self-image and how she spoke to herself. “When I got my GED, I thought to myself, wow, I am smart, because I always thought I was dumb, because my mother told me I was stupid,” she recalled. Her friends encouraged her to apply for community college. “I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m just going to stop at GED, because you have to be really smart to go to college,’ ” Kimmy said. She then went on to complete her Associate of Arts degree in Hawaiian Studies from Kapiʻolani Community College.

At that time, Kimmy was working for a nonprofit called the Pūʻā Foundation. There she met Brother Dennis Schmidt who wrote Kimmy’s character letter for Chaminade University. “I always thought that I wasn’t smart enough or good enough but my professors always made me feel at home and made me feel good about being here,” Kimmy reflected. She graduated with her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies from Chaminade University. She was a recipient of the Hoʻoulu Scholarship program for Native Hawaiian students which paid for her entire degree.

While deciding her next move, she accepted an invitation to a luncheon at Chaminade University. That choice impacted her life more than she could have anticipated. She shared her story with one of the donors and told him about her desire to go back to school for her master’s degree. He heard her and encouraged her to apply for a scholarship at Chaminade. A week later she started classes. Kimmy received her Master of Science in Criminal Justice Studies from Chaminade University in fall 2025 and will be walking at the spring 2026 commencement ceremony.

Her passion is helping people navigate parole and find housing, food and other resources. She’s been providing peer support since she came out of prison in 2013. Kimmy is a certified peer support specialist and does peer support training. She also helps advocate for more peer support. “I’ve done research in my criminal justice program on prisons that have good programs and they do a lot with the individuals in custody,” she said. She chose to study criminal justice because she wants to help implement changes in the criminal justice system. She knows that improvements aren’t always easy to pass but she’s been writing to the state legislators at the Hawaii State Capitol, senators and representatives to add lived experience to the table when they’re making policy decisions. Her goal is to open a program for men and women coming out of prison to provide the support they need. 

Kimmy works with a lot of people that have transitioned out of prison and she helps them find resources. She used to work for the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission as the Reentry Oversight Specialist for the Attorney General’s Office. “That’s pretty unheard of because people that have a past, you don’t see them getting hired for state jobs but my boss Christin Johnson really fought for me. I’m still on parole so she fought even harder,” Kimmy explained. 

In her free time, Kimmy helps feed the homeless. A woman that was in prison with Kimmy has since opened a restaurant in downtown Honolulu and together they pass out meals every month. “I was there before, how can I forget? I’ll never forget where I came from,” Kimmy said. She uses the opportunity to have regular conversations with them, checking if they’re alright and have the resources they need.

She has overcome self-doubt and continuously raised the bar in every step of her education. Kimmy has struggled with imposter syndrome but hasn’t let it stop her from achieving her goals. She is also looking to further her education with the Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology degree program from Chaminade University. “I got to watch some of the graduations and I’m really proud to be a part of this school, Chaminade rocks!” Kimmy exclaimed.

Read the latest issue of Chaminade Magazine

The latest issue of the Chaminade Magazine is available now.

And you don’t have to wait for it to arrive in your mailbox: Read it now online!

The magazine is chock full of new features and alumni profiles. You can explore how Chaminade is helping to address the mental health crisis in Hawai’i, read about the University’s efforts to expand Data Science programming, and meet current students and graduates who are changing the world.

Never miss a post! Follow Chaminade University on Facebook and Instagram.