Consular Corps of Hawaii Names New Officers and Presents Prestigious Awards
HONOLULU – The Consular Corps of Hawaii held its 59th Inaugural Ceremony on Saturday, February 18, at the Sheraton Waikiki to induct its incoming officers and present awards honoring outstanding public service.
Kusuma Cooray, Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka, was inducted as 2012 Dean of the Consular Corps by Hawaii Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald. Other Consular Corps officers inducted were Vice Dean, Consul General of Australia, Scott Dewar; Secretary, Honorary Consul of Norway, Nina Fasi; Treasurer, Honorary Consular Agent of Tonga, Annie Kaneshiro; Auditor, Honorary Consul of Morocco, M. Jan Rumi; Historian, Dean Emeritus and retired Honorary Consul of Switzerland, Dr. Nicklaus R. Schweizer. Leoncio R. Cardenas, Consul General of the Philippines, will serve as Immediate Past Dean.
The Consular Corps of Hawaii also honored two individuals with its Distinguished Service Award – General Gary North, Commander, Pacific Air Forces, and John Henry Felix, Dean Emeritus. The award is presented to an organization or individual who is not a member of the Corps who has made significant contributions toward improving relations between nations, as well as to an active member of the Corps who has distinguished him- or herself through exemplary service to the Corps, to his or her nation and to the community at large for an extended period of time.
General North is responsible for overseeing Air Force activities spread over half the globe in a command that supports 45,000 Air Force members serving principally in Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Korea and Japan.
John Henry Felix, the most senior active member of the Consular Corps, served as Dean of the Corps in 2006. He is the only person representing two sovereign countries, serving as Honorary Consul of Portugal and Honorary Vice Consul of Spain. Felix has received decorations from Portugal including Knight Commander in the Order of Infante Dom Henrique and Knight Commander in the Order of De Benemerencia, as well as a decoration from Spain – Knight Commander in the Order of Isabel La Catolica. He was twice appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the diplomatic post of United States representative to the 23-nation South Pacific Commission.
Former recipients of the Distinguished Service Award include Brenda Lei Foster; The East-West Center; U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye; Lt. Gen. Henry Stackpole; Laurence Vogel, Honorary Consul of Denmark; Honorary Consul Dato’ of Malaysia; Gen. Herbert E. Wolff (ret); William E. Paupe, Honorary Consul of Kiribati; and Niklaus R. Schweizer, Ph.D., retired Honorary Consul of Switzerland.
J. Hans Strasser, Honorary Consul General of Austria, was presented with the Consular Corps’ Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his service to his country and the Corps. Strasser, who served as Dean of the Consular Corps in 1988, is chairman and executive officer of Hotelmark Corporation, a Hawaii-headquartered company that performs marketing for luxury and first-class hotels.
The Consular Corps of Hawaii consists of seven career Consuls General and 28 Honorary Consuls representing nations on every continent (except Antarctica) and Oceania. Among the most important tasks of the Corps are promotion of trade; the maintenance of close relations with the State and County governments and the military; advising and assisting the nationals of the countries they represent in Hawaii; and supporting culture and the arts. For more information on the Consular Corps of Hawaii visit www.consularcorpshawaii.org.
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For more information, please contact John Henry Felix at 808-226-0430.