THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	185
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

Urging the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii to rename Dean Hall AT the University of Hawaii at Manoa to "Alice Ball Hall".

WHEREAS, Alice Augusta Ball was a talented chemist who made significant contributions to the field of medicine by discovering a treatment for leprosy, or Hansen's disease, a disease thought to be incurable at the time; and

WHEREAS, Alice Ball was the first woman and first African American to receive a master's degree from the University of Hawaii, then the College of Hawaii, and the University's first female and African American chemistry instructor; and

WHEREAS, Alice Ball's master's thesis involved the study of the chemical properties of the Kava plant species, which further led Dr. Harry T. Hollmann to approach Ball regarding the study of chemical properties of chaulmoogra oil for the treatment of Hansen's disease; and

WHEREAS, Alice Ball's research led her to develop a new, highly effective injectable form of chaulmoogra oil that was quickly used to treat Hansen's disease patients both in Hawaii and around the world, revolutionizing treatment and pivotally shifting the fight against the disease; and

WHEREAS, in 1918, a Hawaii physician reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that Board of Health examiners released seventy-eight patients from Kalihi Hospital following treatment with injections of Alice Ball's modified chaulmoogra oil; and

WHEREAS, Alice Ball's groundbreaking work directly impacted the eight thousand people that, upon diagnosis with Hansen's disease, were able to receive treatment in their homes rather than be exiled to Kalaupapa, Molokai; and

WHEREAS, despite Alice Ball's short research career due to her passing at age twenty-four, her legacy lives on through her contributions to the treatment of Hansen's disease, as injections of modified chaulmoogra oil remained the preferred treatment for Hansen's disease until sulfonamide drugs were developed in the 1940s; and

WHEREAS, Alice Ball's contributions went unacknowledged until the twenty-first century; and

WHEREAS, Arthur L. Dean, a chemist, Alice Ball's graduate study adviser, and later President of the University of Hawaii, continued Ball's work and began producing large quantities of the injectable chaulmoogra extract but failed to credit Ball in published research findings, renaming Ball's technique the "Dean Method", despite Dr. Hollmann's objections; and

WHEREAS, "Dean Hall" is a building named after Arthur L. Dean at the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus; and

WHEREAS, renaming Dean Hall to "Alice Ball Hall" is a fitting tribute to one of the University of Hawaii at Manoa's most impactful students and instructors and would help commemorate, increase awareness, and ensure due recognition of Ball's work; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii is urged to rename the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Dean Hall to "Alice Ball Hall" in honor of Alice Augusta Ball's contributions to the field of medicine and impact on the University of Hawaii and the world; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii, and President of the University of Hawaii.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

University of Hawaii; Alice Ball; Dean Hall