Iris Green Falcam (August 25, 1938 – February 19, 2010) was an American-born Micronesian

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

, researcher and

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. Falcam served as the First Lady of the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states compri ...

from 1999 to 2003 during the tenure of her husband, former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Leo Falcam. Iris Falcam was a native of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

, but resided in what is now the Federated States of Micronesia for more than forty years. She attended both the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa (University of Hawaii—Mānoa, UH Mānoa, Hawai'i, or simply UH) is a public land-grant research university in Mānoa, a neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawa ...

and Kapiolani Technical School, which is now called Kapiolani Community College. Falcam worked as the

and

researcher Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

for the

College of Micronesia-FSM The College of Micronesia-FSM (COM-FSM) is a public community college in the Federated States of Micronesia. It began operation in 1963 as the Micronesian Teacher Education Center. The college has a state campus in each of the four states with it ...

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of ...

collection from 1979 until her death in 2010. She also worked as the librarian for the

Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia The Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia has 14 non-partisan members: ten members elected for a two-year term in ten single-seat constituencies and four members elected for a four-year term, one from each state at-large. Speakers of th ...

, as well as for the public information office at the

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. History Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...

headquarters on

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 est ...

earlier in her career. Falcam's numerous civic involvements in the FSM included a seat on the board of Pohnpei Catholic School,

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

of the Pohnpei Lions Club and membership in a Catholic women’s organization called Lih en Mercedes. Iris Green Falcam died on Friday, February 19, 2010 in Pohnpei. She was survived by her husband, former President Leo Falcam. President Manny Mori called Falcam, "gracious and caring mother of our nation."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falcam, Iris 1938 births 2010 deaths First Ladies of the Federated States of Micronesia People from Honolulu American librarians American women librarians Federated States of Micronesia librarians University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni People from Pohnpei State American emigrants to the Federated States of Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia women American librarians of Asian descent 21st-century American women