Peace Corps

Born and raised in Honolulu, Alan Kusunoki graduated from Columbia University with a degree in civil engineering, whereupon he joined the Peace Corps and served in Afghanistan from 1970-1972. As a volunteer, he worked with a United Nations engineer and other Afghan counterparts, and helped to research, write, and publish the first building code for Afghanistan.

Upon returning to the States, Alan began a career in architectural engineering in Omaha, NE. A year later, the company transferred his family to Singapore, then to Hong Kong - he lived and worked in Southeast Asia for 8 years. Returning to Los Angeles, he continued to design high-tech facilities for another 10 years. Alan finally returned to Hawaii in 1991 with the Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory to manage the construction of a new radio telescope, the Submillimeter Array on Mauna Kea.

Alan joined the Rotary Club of Hilo in October 1993, and during his time in Hilo, served as Club President and Assistant Governor. After retiring in 2016, he returned to Honolulu, where he has continued in Rotary D5000 service (Rotary Peace Fellowships - chair, District Conference 2021 - chair, D5000 International Service Team, RYLA - programming chair).

Currently, Alan is Vice President of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Hawaii, and also serves as chair of the Outreach Committee on the board of Partnering for Peace.