Trustee Nainoa Thompson

For the last 20 years, Nainoa Thompson, navigator and sail master of the Polynesian Voyaging Society's double-hulled canoe Hokule`a, has inspired and led a revival of traditional arts associated with long-distance ocean voyaging in Hawai`i and throughout Polynesia.

Thompson has developed a system of wayfinding, or non-instrument navigation, synthesizing traditional principles of ancient Pacific navigation and modern scientific knowledge. He is the first Hawaiian and the first Polynesian to practice the art of wayfinding on long distance ocean voyages since such voyaging ended in Hawai`i around the 14th century.

Thompson is currently Program Director of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, using his accomplishments of the past 20 years to develop multi-disciplined, culturally relevant educational programs in partnership with other educational institutions, organizations and agencies. In a recent Honolulu Advertiser poll of Hawaiian households, Thompson was the most well-regarded Hawaiian public figure with 78 percent of those polled giving him a favorable rating. U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka was second.

He is a member of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents and is on the Advisory Council of the Ocean Policy Institute. A former U.S. Merchant Marine Officer, Thompson is a certified Advanced Diver, Red Cross Lifeguard and Commercial Pilot. He is a 1972 graduate of Punahou School and earned a BA in Ocean Science in 1986 from the University of Hawai`i. His father, the late Myron Thompson, was a former Kamehameha Schools trustee.

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