John Kauwe

John S.K. Kauwe III has served as the President of Brigham Young University–Hawaii since July 2020. His administration has worked to increase access to the university for students from developing countries in Oceania and the Asian Rim and better prepare students to live as disciples of Jesus Christ and be leaders in their families, communities, and chosen fields. Kauwe earned a bachelor’s degree (1999) and a master’s degree in molecular biology (2003) at BYU. From 1999-2001, he served as a full-time missionary in Japan. He received a Ph.D. in evolution, ecology, and population biology in 2007 from Washington University in St. Louis and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Washington University School of Medicine in 2008. In 2009 he joined faculty of BYU in the Department of Biology. He later served as the chair of the Biology Department and as Dean of Graduate Studies at BYU. Kauwe’s research career is focused on solving Alzheimer’s disease. His work, which includes more than 100 peer-reviewed published papers, has contributed in unique ways to our understanding of the genetic basis of Alzheimer’s disease risk and resilience. His recent research has been focused on the development of therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease and making the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias possible in the Tongan and Samoan languages.Kauwe and his spouse, Monica, are the parents of five children.