At the 2014 Friends of the East-West Center (FEWC) luncheon, Sumi Makey was presented the FRIEND FOR LIFE award for her long-term commitment and dedication to the mission of the FEWC.

Sumi Makey was born on Maui and was educated at the University of Hawai’i and Teachers College, Columbia University (MA in Counseling and Guidance). After working as a counselor at the University of Illinois and Ohio State University, she spent nine years with the government in Washington, D.C., the last four years were spent programming with the Agency for International Development for participants from Asia. She joined the East-West Center’s Institute for Student Interchange in 1964 and played a major role in developing the first student programs. During the 1970’s, she was largely responsible for the establishment of Open Grants which provided the Center with the flexibility to invite participants whose fields and interests did not mesh with those of the research institutes. In 1979, she was appointed the first Dean of the newly-created Office of Student Affairs and Open Grants. As Dean, she visited China and Bhutan, inviting the East-West Center’s first students from these countries. Makey retired as Dean in 1988 and continues to be active in Center life.

In 2008, Sumi Makey established a scholarship in her name to benefit Center degree fellows who have background and interest in the arts and humanities.