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FeedThe Understated Man
From advocating Mandarin in the first grade to debating the governance of the University of Hawaii, Frank Boas has had few days off during his retirement, but don xt expect him to admit it
Frank Boas possesses many talents. Perhaps understatement should be counted among them. When the successful international attorney decided to retire, he and his late wife thought Hawaii–where Boas had traveled for his work with Dole–would be an ideal place to smell the roses. But why not help the Fulbright Commission, on which he sat in Brussels, set up a tropical medicine exchange program with the University of Hawaii? One last task.
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photo: Cory Lum
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By the time the exchange agreement was signed, Boas had been invited to sit on Gov. John Waihee's committee to celebrate Father Damien's centennial. That was in 1989, and Boas' fingerprints are now on scores of community and educational programs, though he will take no credit. "What's really important are the programs and the programs are being done by the people. I am just trying to make a few suggestions," says Boas, 75.
Here is a Frank Boas Hawaii highlight tour. After the Father Damien celebration, Boas worked on a conference on the international role of Hawaii presented by the University of Hawaii and the East-West Center. He was later appointed to the Law of the Sea Institute board. In 1995, he was part of a special review committee that saved the William S. Richardson School of Law from losing accreditation.
Boas sits on the Pacific Asian Affairs Council, which he helped start a public high school after-school program on international affairs and later a summer travel program. On the Wo International Center board, he helped usher in Mandarin classes to the first grade at Punahou. He also is currently helping the University of Hawaii build its endowment, serves on the Honolulu Academy of Arts board of trustees, and helped the Pacific Forum develop a program to foster the next generation of world leaders.
Boas is perhaps proudest of the recent addition of a master's program for foreign scholars at the law school and establishing a visiting professorship from his alma mater Harvard. "The older I get the more I feel education is the answer to all the world's problems," Boas says.
That is why, he says, he has pushed establishing an independent committee to appoint the UH board of regents. He says politics does not have a place in governing an autonomous university and has helped draft the legislation that will bring the issue to Hawaii voters next November.
Last year, Boas was awarded the national Jefferson Award from the American Institute for Public Service.
Aviam Soifer, dean of the law school, says Boas is an anachronism in etiquette and manners. "In an age where people seem to seek the limelight, he has a wonderful understanding of people and nuance, and how to be quietly effective–and effective in Hawaii."
Boas still seems genuinely baffled by the attention. "Really, I am quite flattered. I am just a poor, old, retired, country lawyer," he asserts.
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| Age: 75 Education: Harvard University, AB, cum laude, 1951; JD, 1954 Military service: Trial observer, Office of Army Staff Judge Advocate General, Paris, 1955-57 Work Experience: Attorney, Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. State Department, Washington, D.C., 1957-59; Private practice attorney in Brussels and London, 1959-79; Of counsel to Patton, Boggs, & Blow, Washington, 1975-80; Director of Foundation of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, 1977-87; Vice Chairman of Fulbright Commission, 1980-87 Awards: Harvard Alumni Association Award, 1996; Jefferson Award for Public Service, 2004 Do you like what you read? Subscribe to Hawaii Business Magazine » ADVERTISEMENT Email NewslettersSign up for our eNewsletters
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