NAMES IN THE NEWS
Last updated 4-1-09 at 7:15 p.m.
A return
 Former Seattle Public Schools superintendent Rajinder “Raj” Manhas was chosen on March 27 to become the new superintendent of North Thurston Public Schools. He led Seattle Public Schools from 2003 to 2007, and will begin his new job on July 1, replacing Jim Koval.
Obama names another Asian American
 Harold Hongju Koh, 54, brother of Dr. Harold Koh, the Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health-Designate, becomes the second Koh to receive a nomination.
On March 23, President Obama nominated him as Legal Adviser to the State Department. Koh is Dean of the Yale Law School, where he teaches human rights, civil procedure, and international law. He is one of the country’s foremost experts on public and private international law, national security law, and human rights.
From 1998 to 2001, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. He previously served on the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Public International Law.
A Marshall Scholar, he has received 11 honorary degrees and more than 30 awards for his human rights work, including awards from Columbia Law School and the American Bar Association for his lifetime achievements in International law.
Koh has been named one of America’s “Leading Public Sector Lawyers Under The Age of 45” by American Lawyer magazine and one of the “100 Most Influential Asian-Americans of the 1990s” by A Magazine.
A Korean American native of Boston, he holds a B.A. degree from Harvard College, and B.A. and M.A. degrees from Oxford University. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was developments editor of the Harvard Law Review, and he served as a law clerk for Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Visiting dignitaries
A group photo of the Metropolitan King County Council members with the leader of the Wujin Delegation Ni Xiaoqian (center, in the red jacket).
Members of the Metropolitan King County Council met with Ni Xiaoqian, vice chairperson of Wujin Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), at the King County Courthouse in early March.
Xiaoqian led a delegation from the CPPCC, a political advisory body in the People’s Republic of China. Xiaoqian is also the director of Wujin Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office is an administrative office under the leadership of the PRC State Council, which assists the Premier in handling overseas Chinese affairs.
Xiaoqian and Council Chair Dow Constantine signed a memorandum of agreement between the Council and the CPPCC, and Xiaoqian invited representatives of the Council to visit Wujin in the future.
A community celebration
The Filipino Youth Activities drill team performs during the opening event for the Hiwatha First Anniversary & Urban Art Fair.
Hiawatha held an urban art fair on March 8 to commemorate the organization for completing its first year of operation. To celebrate, Hiawatha Lofts invited the public and local community to come experience a full day of art, dance and independent local businesses.
The Hiawatha Lofts consists of 61 one- and two-bedroom rental units of affordable live/work studios, plus six commercial storefronts for artist-related businesses. It is located in the Jackson Place Neighborhood and is made possible through ARTSPACE, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to creating, fostering, and preserving affordable space for artists and arts organizations.
A new UW director
Paul Rucker is now the assistant vice president for constituent relations director of Alumni Relations and Programs in the UW Office of Development and Alumni Relations.
Born and raised just a few blocks from the University of Washington campus, Rucker has been active in higher education administration for the past 15 years. Prior to joining the senior leadership team at the UW Office of Development and Alumni Relations in 2004, Rucker developed and led a broad range of international and global diversity initiatives in the Washington State Community Colleges, including opportunities for underrepresented U.S. students, staff, and faculty to travel and study abroad in developing world countries.
Rucker lives in Edmonds with his wife and two daughters. He is of Lebanese descent.
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