Daniel Kwok Obituary

Daniel W.Y. Kwok, historian, passed away in Honolulu at the age of 92. Born in Shanghai, China in 1932, he was the son of Tak-Wah Kwok, an official in the Shanghai Foreign Office during the years before the Communist revolution, and Grace Wong, a concert pianist from a prominent Shanghai Episcopalian family. Raised in an environment shaped by the turbulent landscape of 20th-century China, Daniel's upbringing inspired a lifelong commitment to the understanding of Chinese culture, history, and thought.


He attended Brown University (BA, 1954) and Yale University (MA, 1956; PhD, 1959), where he studied Chinese scientism, populism, and Ming-Qing philosophy. He began as a lecturer at Yale University, then Knox College in 1959 and joined the faculty at the University of Hawai'i in 1961.
In 1978, he founded the China Seminar, an intellectual forum that combined discussion on Chinese history, culture, and politics, with exquisite food. Over four decades, the seminar hosted more than 250 speakers and 350 presentations, fostering deep, cross-disciplinary dialogues on a wide range of topics.


Believing in the power of the media to bridge cultures, Daniel created and directed Asia Fellowship Programs at the University of Hawai'i (1975-2001). The programs trained hundreds of mid-career journalists, many of whom have gone on to influential careers covering Asia for major news outlets.


Daniel is survived by daughter Alison (h. Jim), son Theodore (w. Hueyduan), and granddaughters Anne (h. Ben) and Alisa. In lieu of flowers, memorial checks may be made out to: UH Foundation with Daniel W.Y. Kwok Endowment on the memo line and mailed to: UH Foundation, P.O. Box 11270 Honolulu, HI 96828 or via www.uhfoundation.org/danielkwok; or the Hawai'i Council for the Humanities, 3599 Wai'alae Avenue, Room 25, Honolulu, HI 96816 or via tinyurl.com/hihumanities. Services will be private.