US Secretary of State Blinken Appoints Five New Members to EWC Board of Governors

HONOLULU  – US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has appointed five new members to three-year terms on East-West Center’s Board of Governors. The new members are:

  • Ryan Hass, director of China and Taiwan Studies at the Brookings Institution
  • Melissa J. Ma, co-founder and managing partner of Asia Alternatives
  • Mona Pasquil Rogers, director of California public policy for Meta
  • Ambassador (Ret.) Teddy Taylor, former US ambassador to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu
  • Carolyn Wu, head of international and diplomatic affairs for Apple

They replace outgoing members Caroline Casagrande, Kelley Currie, Kenneth Juster, David Stilwell, and Gene Ward, who had completed their terms on the board.

“We are grateful to Secretary Blinken for these outstanding appointments, and we look forward to working together with our new board colleagues to guide this special institution forward,” said EWC Board of Governors Chair Dr. James K. Scott. “We are thankful as well to our departing colleagues for their dedicated service and accomplishments during their time on the board.”

EWC leaders also expressed gratitude and congratulations to former board member Dr. Hilda Heine, who left the board recently after being re-elected to her former office as president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. “We warmly congratulate President Heine on her election and thank her for her many contributions to the Center,” said EWC President Suzanne Vares-Lum. “Although we will miss her presence on the board, we know that our ties with her and the Marshall Islands will remain strong.”