At 106, James Chou is still lifting, teaching by example and apparently not finished making the rounds at the University of Hawaiʻi. The longtime engineering professor recently returned to UH Mānoa, where he revisited his former office and reunited with former students and a colleague from different eras of the College of Engineering.
The University of Hawaiʻi System said the visit was arranged by the UH Foundation and marked Chou’s first return to the engineering college in decades. He reconnected with former students Cedric Chong and Lloyd Hihara, as well as former colleague Song Choi, creating a reunion that stretched across several generations of UH engineering.
Former UH Professor Reconnects With Students Decades Later
Chong, who graduated in 1962, recalled that Chou had a knack for making complicated engineering theories understandable through simple, everyday comparisons, according to UH News. Hihara graduated in 1983, while Choi finished in 1995, underscoring just how long Chou’s influence lasted in Mānoa’s engineering classrooms.
Chou taught thermodynamics at UH Mānoa and later became an emeritus professor. He earned a master’s degree from Georgia Tech and a doctorate from Oklahoma State University in 1964, after first working for Alexander & Baldwin’s sugar operations and relocating from Maui to Oʻahu in the 1950s.
His Retirement Routine Became A Second Career In Fitness
After retiring in the late 1980s, Chou kept returning to the university and continued bringing fruit for former colleagues. But his most consistent post-retirement commitment has been exercise, with Chou still working out regularly at 24 Hour Fitness in Pearl City.
Chou’s fitness routine first drew broad attention when he celebrated his 100th birthday at the gym in 2020. Hawaii News Now later reported that he marked his 102nd birthday with another workout alongside his son and was exercising about six days a week.
Earlier coverage by 24 Hour Fitness described Chou’s typical session as a treadmill warmup followed by a full-body workout, along with a relatively simple diet. Chou has attributed his longevity to exercise, tofu and wine, but his larger message has been even simpler: stay active, keep learning and treat people well.
That philosophy helps explain why the return to UH felt bigger than a nostalgic campus visit. For former students who carried his lessons into engineering careers, Chou’s appearance offered a rare chance to thank a professor who remains remarkably engaged—both with his old academic home and with the daily work of staying in motion.
