Governing Board
Board Members
Myron K. Thompson, Governing Board Chair
Community at Large
Local businessman and eldest son of Myron B. Thompson, Myron K. Thompson has continued to provide insight into relevant Hawaiian cultural and environmental issues that will impact our future generation of students. He founded Smart Energy Hawai’i in order to form a company that delivers superior renewable energy and green building products and consultation services to its clients....He received his Bachelors in Business Administration in 1975 from Denver University and Management Consulting Certification from the Hubbard College of Administration in 2000. Myron’s interest in renewable energy stems from his careers in both the computer industry and solar industry during their early formative years. As President of Smart Energy Hawai’i, Myron is dedicated to ensuring that their products always work toward the greater good. Smart Energy Hawai’i is one facet of his many avocations and involvement in socially responsible business and community development.
Maili Simmons
Community at Large
Mrs. Simmons is an executive secretary in the Honolulu Fire Department has served as the chairperson of the Governing Board’s financial and human resource committees. Her love for the school and its students is evident in the time she has spent frequenting the activities and doing committee oversight at the school.
Matthew Liao-Troth, PhD
Community at Large
Dr. Matthew Liao-Troth is vice president for academic affairs at St. Petersburg College. He was formerly the senior vice president and provost at Hawai‘i Pacific University (HPU). During his time at HPU the institution was nationally ranked for multiple years, was reaccredited by WASC Senior (WSCUC), added multiple academic programs and its first doctoral program, and built out the Aloha Tower facilities. Prior to his time at HPU Dr. Liao-Troth served... at Georgia College & State University and Western Washington University in academic administrative roles, and on the faculty of Western Washington University, Washington University in St. Louis and DePaul University in Chicago. Dr. Liao-Troth earned his PhD from the University of Arizona and is an emeritus professor of Management at Western Washington University.
James Shigeo Dixon
Community at Large
Jim Dixon concentrates his practice in the areas of insurance and health law, in which he has advised clients and advocated on their behalf on financial services and healthcare reform issues before federal and state agencies, and real estate and insurance licensees before state agencies. Outside of the practice of law Mr. Dixon is committed to promoting justice and strengthening the rule of law. Previously he has served on the Boards of the Honolulu Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens... League, the Friends of the Judiciary History Center, The Hawaii State Bar Association-Young Lawyers Division, and the Building Industry Association Hawaii, where he also served as chair of the BIAʻs Government Affairs Committee. Mr. Dixon currently also serves on the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Council for Economics Education.
Jesse Smith
Community at Large
Jesse Smith’s practice focuses primarily on complex commercial litigation matters. Born and raised in the snowy Northeast, Mr. Smith obtained his B.A. with honors from Hamilton College, where he mastered in East Asian Studies and wrote an award winning paper on the Bakumatsu period of Japanese history. Prior to moving to Hawaii, Mr. Smith lived and worked in Japan for four years, and was a participant on the Japan Exchange Teaching Programme, earning... certificates in both Japanese language interpretation and translation. Mr. Smith obtained his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson School of Law. While in law school, Mr. Smith served as an Editor-in-Chief of the Asian-Pacific Law and Policy Journal, co-authored a published translation of a leading Japanese constitutional law article, and was an award-winning member of the Native American Moot Court me. Prior to joining McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP in 2011, Mr. Smith clerked for the Honorable Lisa M. Ginoza of the Intermediate Court of Appeals, State of Hawaii. Mr. Smith is a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He is admitted to practice before all Hawaii courts as well as the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
