Joyce Sachiko Tsunoda

Joyce Sachiko Tsunoda (née, Nishimura; born 1 January 1938) is an American college administrator who served as the Chancellor for the University of Hawaiʻi community colleges for 20 years. She was the "first Asian American woman to serve as the chancellor of a multi-campus community college system".

Biography Early life Tsunoda was born in Osaka, Japan in 1938. Her father, Yukio Nishimura, was a professional baseball player with the Hanshin Tigers, and her mother, Edith Sueko Higashi, who was a Nisei who grew up in Hawaii. Tsunoda has three younger sisters. Her father earned a position at a company in Manchuria before World War II, and the family lived there. When the war broke out, her father was drafted and died in the Philippines. Once the family made it back to Japan, Tsunoda's mother decided to move the family to Hawaii, where she was sure could make a living. Tsunoda easily adjusted to living in America, and became a citizen in 1952. She was the valedictorian of Leilehua High School when she graduated in 1956. In 1966 she earned a PhD in Biochemistry.

While participating in campus leadership positions, she advocated for equal budgets, more equitable teaching loads, and consistent position titles between the Manoa campus and the community colleges. At the time, the Manoa campus had a larger budget than all of the community colleges combined despite the community colleges serving more students.

Tsunoda retired in 2003. and the University of Hawaii Alumni Association's "Outstanding Community Service and Distinguished Alumna" award (1990).