A Leader’s Journey: Rich Matsuda

What does it mean to grow up in Hawai‘i, leave for opportunity, and then come home to lead one of the world’s most powerful observatories? In this week’s A Leader’s Journey, meet Rich Matsuda, the first Hawai‘i-born director of Keck. From tinkering with cars in Nuʻuanu Valley to capturing light from galaxies older than Earth itself, his story is about balance — between science and culture, leadership and humility.

A Leader’s Journey is a new original series that profiles Hawai‘i leaders one at a time — exploring the experiences that shaped them, the challenges that tested them, and the insights they hope to pass on.