Fellows mentioned in this story:
Rich Matsuda
Yunji de Nies

From Hawai‘i News Now:

Rich Matsuda is the first Hawai‘i-born director of the W. M. Keck Observatory. For him, the title carries both responsibility and opportunity.“In one sense it doesn’t matter, shouldn’t matter, there’s a job to do running the observatory, operating it to its best capability,” he said. “In another sense though, given where we are with Mauna Kea, and we’re trying to find a path forward where astronomy is part of the Mauna, but in a more balanced way. So I think from that standpoint, it’s really important. I think having local leadership who has a really strong sense of community values at this time is really important.”

Those values were rooted early, growing up in Nuʻuanu Valley where the stream behind his house was his playground. After studying engineering at the University of Washington and working for nearly a decade at Boeing in Seattle, Matsuda returned home to help build Keck’s second telescope. A sunrise surf session at Waipiʻo Valley sealed the decision where he thought, this is a sign to come home.

Watch at hawaiinewsnow.com.