August 3, 2005
MEDIA CONTACT: Caroline Witherspoon
or Jocelyn Collado
Becker Communications
(808) 533-4165
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BISHOP MUSEUM APPOINTS FORMER AMBASSADOR ALVIN ADAMS
AS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS COUNSELOR
HONOLULU – Bishop Museum has appointed former U.S. Ambassador Alvin Adams as Counselor to the President for International Affairs. In this position, he will assist President Bill Brown with strengthening the Museum’s international work and developing new international initiatives.
Adams brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this position. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of the United Nations Association of the United States. He retired from the Foreign Service in 1996 after 30 years of service, which included tours as U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti, Haiti and Peru. Adams’ assignments in the State Department included Principal Deputy to the Ambassador at Large for Counter Terrorism, Deputy Executive Secretary of the State Department and Special Assistant to several Secretaries of State. In 1993, he was awarded the State Department’s Medal for Valor.
Adams is a graduate of Yale University and the Vanderbilt University Law School. He is active in community and professional organizations such as the Mediation Center of the Pacific, Association of Conflict Resolution, Honolulu Rotary Club, Meals on Wheels, and Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii. Adams has served as Honorary Consul of Peru in the State of Hawai‘i since March 2005 and was nominated as Honorary Chairman for United Nations Day observances in 2005 by Governor Linda Lingle. He also speaks frequently on foreign policy matters and terrorism to community organizations and universities, including The Pacific and Asian Affairs Council and the Defense Department’s Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies.
Adams enjoys the study of language and speaks Spanish, French and Vietnamese fluently.
Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop as a tribute to his wife Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha dynasty. Located at 1525 Bernice Street, the Museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $14.95 for adults; 11.95 for youth 4-12 years; special rates for kama‘āina, seniors and military; children under 4 years and Bishop Museum Members are free. For more information, call 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.