Eclectic, that’s how one would describe Paul Loo’s approach in education and its advancement. Paul, who is the sole surviving founder of Hawaii Pacific University, believes that the keys to world order are to listen, understand and tolerate other people’s views. HPU’s forefathers have mandated this philosophy in its curriculum to foster and nurture a sense of oneness and impartiality in to the hearts and minds of its students. To Paul, education is not just a mere tool for self-development, but an instrument to achieve global prosperity.
Conversely, Paul trusts that speech and communication – being able to deliver concepts and ideas, and put them in to practice – effectuate a means to achieve an end.
Through his many years as a professional, Paul Loo has grounded these ways of thinking to be successful at what he does; as an entrepreneur, philanthropist and proponent of education.
More than 50 years of professional experienceAfter years of extensive academic undertaking, Paul served as a U.S. Army artillery officer in Europe and returned to become the Deputy Chief Underwriter for the Federal Housing Administration.
“I worked for the Credit Bureau of Hawaii and I learned how to examine companies. I took a test to become a mortgage examiner for the Federal Housing Administration and joined FHA. I went from examining people's mortgages to examining companies. I've always wanted to be in the market so I joined in 1960.”
Paul was a president of the former Honolulu Stock Exchange, and served on the Executive Committee of C. Brewer Ltd., a diversified land company, as owner-director. He spent most of his professional career with Morgan Stanley, Hawaii’s oldest and largest investment brokerage firm. He retired in March 2007 but has stayed involved with the company.
“I think that my life's interest since I was in high school has been the stock market. When you retire, you just don't cut yourself off from that interest. I keep very much abreast of what's happening in the investment business,” he said.
Paul believed that his retirement from Morgan Stanley would open doors for further institutional development.
Paul explains that when people say, “Oh my goodness, Morgan Stanley is not going to run well now that you're retiring.” He believes that statement to be absolutely false. He says, “it may in fact run better because we've got fresh new ideas, new people, and the people that I have sort of left at that office are just people of great integrity, they make decisions all because I have tried to avoid keeping and repressing those wonderful abilities down.”
An Education-oriented childhoodPaul Loo’s mother was instrumental in setting his proclivity towards the advancement of education. As a child, he was taught that the most effective way out of poverty was to feed the mind with useful and practicable information.
“I've always had kind of a belief that my mother instilled with me that the difference between the ghetto and poverty and success is education,” he said. “Education is often the difference between despotic ruler and chaotic leadership and prosperity and that's why education is not just to build oneself, but it's also to build one's country and to provide the services and goods that people need.”
With this philosophy, he has endeavored well and hard to develop the state of education in Hawaii, which would bear fruit to Hawaii Pacific University.
The Origin of HPUFormerly known as Hawaii Pacific College, HPU, was an offshoot of a Baptist academic institution named Jackson College on Manoa Road. Learning that the school was experiencing financial difficulties, Paul Loo and three colleagues decided to buy out and restructure the institution. They merged it with Honolulu Christian College on Beretenia Street and moved to Nuuanu and eventually downtown.
Overtime, HPU’s location in downtown Honolulu has become a model of singularity as an education provider in the State of Hawaii.
“HPU has no tenure of any of its professors today. We modeled it after Northeastern University, which was a cooperative education, that's why HPU is downtown. It has virtually not only provided many students to go to school who couldn't otherwise afford it, but it also has given us a practical approach for our education professors, for our investment people who can just walk across the street. It's a very hands-on, non-ivory tower institution.”
“I'm so pleased that from 16 graduates to now 8000 students that HPU is a major part of rebuilding the downtown Honolulu scene. Without it, Honolulu wouldn't be the same,” Paul remarked.
Hawaii Pacific University presented Paul with the “Fellow of the Pacific” award, the institution’s premier accolade in its 2001 graduation ceremony. Moreover, recognizing his contribution to the furtherance of Hawaii education, HPU created the Paul C.T. Loo Awards to honor alumni who have performed outstandingly as an individual and member of the community, with the hopes of influencing students to follow their footsteps.
In 2007, HPU awarded Evan Leong, host and founder of Greater Good Inc. with the Young Alumni Award.
Beyond HPURetirement may seem like misnomer to Paul Loo. Now that he has full control of his time, Paul hopes to be more proactive in social development through extending his philanthropic arm beyond the islands of Hawaii, and not to mention, protract his influence in education.
“I think that I'm going to work with Chaminade in helping to build up their alumni relations. They have a wonderful bunch of alumni, people in high positions that they haven't kept track of. I think that I will continue work on charities. I've been asked to help a seminary in Evanston, Illinois, in some of their programs. I've got a lot of other personal programs and I haven't even talked about going back and playing a little golf. There's so much to do in this world. Vi (his wife) is on the board of IHS Homeless. They are operating from hand to mouth. They need an endowment. I will try to help them whatever way I can.”
Catch Paul Loo this month on Greater Good Television. Watch Greater Good TV on KGMB9, Saturdays and Sundays at 4:30pm. Greater Good Radio airs every Saturday morning on 1420 AM and online at www.greatergoodradio.com.
