HONOLULU — Pursuant to Act 255, Session Laws of Hawai‘i (HB 2024, HD1, SD2, CD1), Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi (District 8 – Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau) transmitted his list of three individuals – Paul Horner, Dr. Kamanamaikalani Beamer and Dr. Benjamin Kudo – to Gov. David Ige for consideration of service on the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority.
HONOLULU — Pursuant to Act 255, Session Laws of Hawai‘i (HB 2024, HD1, SD2, CD1), Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi (District 8 – Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau) transmitted his list of three individuals – Paul Horner, Dr. Kamanamaikalani Beamer and Dr. Benjamin Kudo – to Gov. David Ige for consideration of service on the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority.
Ige will select one of the three to serve on the authority.
Horner, of Hilo on Hawai‘i Island, is president and CEO of Na Leo ‘O Hawai‘i. He has decades of experience in management roles across various industries, including hospitality and luxury resort management. He has managed hotels on Lana‘i, Hawai‘i Island and Napa Valley, California. Prior to his current role with Na Leo ‘O Hawai‘i, Horner was the executive director for the Waioli Corporation/Nuhou Corporation, a nonprofit founded to preserve the 100-acre historic Grove Farm Sugar Plantation.
Horner is a graduate of Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and is currently a licensed real estate salesperson. He was inducted into the Hawai‘i Restaurant Association Hall of Fame in 2018.
Beamer, of Kamuela, Hawai‘i Island, is a full professor in the Hui ‘Aina Momona Program at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. He serves a dual appointment in the Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge and the William S. Richardson School of Law as part of the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law. Beamer also serves as the board chair for Aloha Kuamo‘o ‘Aina and sits on the board of directors for the University of Hawai‘i Professional Assembly. From 2009-18, Beamer served as director of the First Nations Futures Program at Kamehameha Schools and was a commissioner on the State Water Resource Management Commission from 2013-21. He was president and CEO of The Kohala Center from 2015-16. A graduate of Kamehameha Schools, Beamer earned his bachelor’s degree in Hawaiian studies and philosophy and his master’s and doctorate degrees in geography from the University of Hawai‘i. A published author of both books and academic articles, he won Book of the Year from the Hawai‘i Book Publishing Association in 2015.
Kudo, of Honolulu, is counsel to the law firm of Ashford &Wriston, which handles significant real-estate transactions, commercial litigation and tax law throughout the state.
He has been an invited speaker and seminar lecturer to various professional organizations on real-property law, land-use law, Native Hawaiian rights and water rights.
He currently serves as an advisory board member of the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America (and is a former Kamehameha District chairman); director, Boys &Girls Club of Hawaii (1996-11); honorary director, Temari-Center for Pacific and Asian Art; director, Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific; president (2008-10) and director, The 200 Club; director, New City Nissan, Inc.; council leader, U.S.-Japan Council; and serves as legal counsel to the Japanese American Citizens League and volunteer advisor to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i on the Honouliuli Internment Center Preservation Project. He received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington in 1972, a master’s degree in business administration (emphasis in finance) from the University of Hawai‘i-Manoa in 1975; his doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. in 1978; and his doctorate degree in international management from the Shidler College of Business, UH-Manoa, with an emphasis in cross-cultural studies in 2008.
All nominees appointed by Ige are subject to Senate confirmation.
