Mari Yoshihara, associate professor and graduate chair of the American Studies Department at UH, won the 2007 Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award. UH Creative Services Department

The award allows graduate students to nominate faculty for excellent mentoring, one of the foundations of outstanding graduate education.

Yoshihara is recognized for her achievements in providing guidance to new students, holding workshops to help in the students' career development process, assisting students in practicing their presentations for professional meetings and assisting in their job search.

She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Tokyo and her Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University. In addition to teaching and serving as graduate chair in American Studies, from 2005-2008, she is also serving as the director of the East-West Center's International Cultural Studies Graduate Certificate Program.

She is the author of a number of books, including "Embracing the East: White Women and American Orientalism," Japan's best-selling, "Amerika no Daigukuin de Seiko suro Hoho" (How to Succeed in Graduate School in America), and "Gendai Amerika no Kiiwaado (Keywords of Contemporary America). Her next book, tentatively titled "The Race for the Sound: Asians and Asian Americans in Western Classical Music," draws from her experience as a classically trained amateur pianist, and will explore how Asians came to form a presence in the classical music scene and its cultural connections.