Larry Matsuda learned his community service ways from his mother, who after World War II used to send packages of coffee, chocolate, shoes, clothing and other items to relatives in Hiroshima every month. As a kid, Matsuda complained that she was sending all the best stuff away, but his mother explained how needed the items were.

He didn't forget the lesson. In the last decade Matsuda, who is being honored with the UW Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award, has given a lot back to the UW, which offered him a low-cost education back in the 1960s. For example, he helped found the Multicultural Alumni Partnership, a special interest group that honors distinguished alumni and community members for promoting diversity and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for student scholarships through its annual Bridging the Gap Breakfast. And, as the association's first Asian American president in 1996-97, he appointed the group's first Diversity Committee.

Matsuda also had a role in starting the "First Day on Red Square," in which the UWAA gives coffee and bagels to students on Red Square on the first day of school in the fall. A lifelong Seattle educator, he was formerly a teacher and principal and is currently a visiting professor of education at Seattle University.

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