HAWAII - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Policy
Job Titles:
- Acting Director of the Office of University Relations
- Interim Director of University Relations
- Interim Director, University Relations Director, Media Relations
Alyson Kakugawa-Leong was appointed acting director of the Office of University Relations in January 2019 and interim director in February of 2019. Since 1988, Kakugawa-Leong has served as a public information officer and director of media relations. She is responsible for media relations, communications, and public relations and is the campus-wide lead for media releases, news conferences, media inquiries, and internal communications at UH Hilo.
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President for Budget and Finance / Controller
- Financial Management Office
Job Titles:
- Chancellor
- Chancellor at the University of Hawaiʻi
- UH Hilo Chancellor
Bonnie D. Irwin began serving as chancellor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo on July 1, 2019. Chancellor Irwin previously served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University Monterey Bay. While at CSU, she served on the Regional Engagement and Research Council of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and on the Board of Directors of the American Conference of Academic Deans. She is currently a National Collegiate Honors Council Fellow. Previously, Irwin served as dean of the Honors College and then dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Eastern Illinois University. While there, she served on the board of the National Collegiate Honors Council, also serving as president of the organization. She started at Eastern Illinois University as a tenure-track professor of English specializing in world literature and folklore before moving into administration. Irwin received her master of arts in comparative literature and her doctor of philosophy in comparative literature from UC Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- VP for Legal Affairs / University / General Counsel
Job Titles:
- Program Administrator / Mānoa Innovation Center
Job Titles:
- Secretary to the Executive Administrator and Secretary of the Board of Regents
Job Titles:
- Director / Mānoa Innovation Center
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Longest - Serving Dean of the UH Manoa School of Travel Industry Management.
Chuck Gee, co-founder and longest-serving dean of the UH Manoa School of Travel Industry Management.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- VP for Academic Strategy
Job Titles:
- Member of Committee
- President and Chief Executive Officer for Hawaii Dental Service
Diane Paloma is the President and Chief Executive Officer for Hawaii Dental Service (HDS) which offers Hawaiʻi families affordable dental plans to maintain healthy smiles and total body health. Previously, she served as the Chief Executive Officer for the King Lunalilo Trust and Home and is also the former Director of The Queen's Health Systems, Native Hawaiian Health Program. Prior to Queen's she spent time at the John A. Burns School of Medicine as a faculty member, worked for HMSA and its subsidiaries, and started her career working for a private physician.
A Kamehameha Schools graduate, she earned her BS in Physiological Science from UCLA, MBA from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and PhD in Healthcare Administration from Capella University. Paloma has spent her career in the health field since 1995 and was able to combine her passion for Native Hawaiian culture with the health and medical fields.
A lifelong learner, she is a proud graduate and former faculty member of the UH System. She spent some time growing up on the Mānoa campus, Keller Hall, as her mother was a 30-year UH employee.
Paloma volunteers her time as a board member with various community organizations advancing health and education. In 2002, she completed the ʻuniki process for the status of ʻōlapa with Ka Pa Hula O Kamehameha. She currently serves as ʻalakaʻi (halau leader) for Ka Pā Hula O Ka Lei Lehua.
Job Titles:
- Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
- UH Hilo 's Interim Vice Chancellor
Christopher Holland is UH Hilo's interim vice chancellor for student affairs. He was appointed in September 2022 having previously served as associate vice chancellor for student affairs since 2020. Before coming to UH Hilo, he served as assistant dean and chief housing officer at George Mason University, vice president of student services at Florida State College, and dean of students at College of St. Joseph, Brevard College, and Purchase College. He holds a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Alabama.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- VP for Community Colleges
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President of Student Affairs
Job Titles:
- EVP
- Vice - Chair
- Chairman of Committee
- Vice Chair / Honolulu County
Gabriel Lee is the EVP Commercial Markets of American Savings Bank. Prior to joining ASB in 1998, Gabe was a Vice President in commercial banking at First Hawaiian Bank. Between 1985 and 1996, he was with Bank of Hawaii primarily in corporate banking, and leaving as Vice President & Pacific Marketing Director of the Leasing Division.
Job Titles:
- Vice President for IT and Chief Information Officer / Information Technology Center
- VP for Information Technology / CIO
Job Titles:
- Editor - in - Chief of the Honolulu Advertiser for 26 Years and Honored by Three Nations for Promoting Better Understanding Between Countries
George Chaplin, editor-in-chief of the Honolulu Advertiser for 26 years and honored by three nations for promoting better understanding between countries
Job Titles:
- Freedom Forum Executive Supporting Asian Studies Fellowships at the University of Hawai‘I
Gerald Sass, Freedom Forum executive supporting Asian studies fellowships at the University of Hawai‘i
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- VP for Administration
Job Titles:
- Interim Title IX Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Collegiate Licensing Administrator / Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
Job Titles:
- Vice Chancellor
- Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
- Personnel Specialist for Labor Relations With the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
- Senior Officials
- UH Hilo Interim Director of Strategic Initiatives and Government Affairs
- UH Hilo Interim Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs
- Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs
was appointed vice chancellor for administrative affairs in July 2023. Rapoza previously served as UH Hilo interim director of strategic initiatives and government affairs, a position he held since January 2023 representing the chancellor and other senior officials to the university community, directing legislative issues and proposals, and overseeing campus-level legal reviews. Prior to that, he was UH Hilo interim vice chancellor for administrative affairs from 2017 to 2022, director of human resources from 2016 to 2017, and associate director of human resources from 2013 to 2016. Before joining UH Hilo, Rapoza was a personnel specialist for labor relations with the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education from 2008 to 2013. He received his bachelor of science in family resources from UH Mānoa and his juris doctor from UH Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Director / Information Technology Center
Job Titles:
- Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Associate Professor, Hawaiian Studies
Associate Professor of Hawaiian and Hawaiian Studies Keiki Kawai‘ae‘a was appointed interim vice chancellor for academic affairs in August 2023. Previously, she served as director of UH Hilo's Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language since 2013 where she oversaw the completion of Haleʻōlelo, the permanent home for the college, and championed program improvement and outreach in Hawaiian language and culture, linguistics, immersion and mauli ola education for P-20 students. She arrived at UH Hilo in 2003 and is founding director of the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Program, past director of Hale Kuamo‘o Hawaiian Language and Culture Center, and a founding partner of Ulukau, Hawaiʻi's Digital Electronic Library. She holds a bachelor of arts in Hawaiian studies and a master of education in curriculum and instruction from UH Mānoa, and doctor of philosophy in Indigenous education from Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Job Titles:
- Director, Facilities Business Office
Job Titles:
- Senior Executive Director of Alumni Relations
Job Titles:
- Interim Executive Director / Mānoa Innovation Center
Job Titles:
- Writer, Educator, Humanitarian and Social Activist Hailed As One of the Great Figures in Contemporary Literature
Maya Angelou, a writer, educator, humanitarian and social activist hailed as one of the great figures in contemporary literature
Job Titles:
- Dean, College of Arts & Sciences Professor of History / College of Arts and Sciences
Professor of History Michael Bitter was named permanent dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in January of 2023 after serving as interim dean beginning in June 2017. Bitter came to UH Hilo as an assistant professor in 1999 and taught in the Department of History for over 17 years. During that time, he served as chair of the history department, faculty representative for social sciences at the UH Professional Assembly, chair of the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Senate, and general education committee chair for the UH Hilo Faculty Congress. He is actively engaged in promoting the expansion of college programs and collaborating with the Center for Global Education and Exchange to increase exchange opportunities for UH Hilo students to study at partner universities, both nationally and internationally. Bitter received his doctor of philosophy in European history with a focus on Russia and Eastern Europe from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
Miriam Mobley Smith is interim dean of the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy. She joined the college in February of 2022. Previously, she served as interim dean and visiting professor for Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Before that she was dean and professor at the Chicago State University College of Pharmacy and then director of strategic alliances for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board.
Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is an American politician who served as the seventh Governor of Hawaiʻi from 2010 to 2014. Born in Buffalo, New York. Abercrombie attended Union College in Schenectady, New York graduating in 1959 with a BA in Sociology. He entered graduate school that fall at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa earning his MA in Sociology and PhD in American Studies.
Abercrombie began his political career in 1974, after winning a seat in the Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives. He served in the Hawaiʻi State House until 1979, when he was elected to the Hawaiʻi State Senate. Abercrombie went to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986 in a special election. Abercrombie served the remainder of that term until 1987. He served on the Honolulu City Council from 1988 to 1990 before returning to Congress in 1991. Abercrombie served 10 consecutive terms in the House before being elected Governor of Hawaiʻi.
He is a co-author with Richard Hoyt of Blood of Patriots-a novel of political terrorism at the nerve center of American democracy in Washington D.C.
Since 2015 he has a successful consulting and business career with Pacific Strategies LLC in Honolulu.
Professor of Horticulture Norman Arancon was appointed director of the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management in July 2023 in a newly defined role at the college. He arrived at UH Hilo in 2008, and in addition to teaching horticulture and other agricultural topics, he has done pioneering research in soil ecology. He attended Xavier University for his undergraduate degree, received his post-graduate degree in agricultural studies in Australia at the University of Queensland, and his master of science in environmental sciences and his doctor of philosophy in environmental sciences from Ohio State University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar from 1997 to 2000.
Job Titles:
- Shipyard Apprentice Program
Job Titles:
- Director / Information Technology Center
Job Titles:
- Dean, College of Natural and Health Sciences / College of Natural and Health Sciences
Simon Kattenhorn was named permanent dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences in August 2023. Previously, he served as associate dean at the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage. His research portfolio includes 20 competitive federal grants, 45 peer-reviewed journal articles as primary or co-author, and 184 conference abstracts. He has taught 65 course sections and has mentored 26 graduate students and 11 undergraduate students in research projects. He is a member of various professional organizations, including as a fellow at the Geological Society of America. He received bachelor of science and master of science degrees from University of Natal, Durban, South Africa; a master of science in geology from University of Akron; and a doctor of philosophy in geological and environmental sciences from Stanford University.
Associate Professor of Management Todd Inouye was appointed director of the business college in November of 2022, and became permanent director in January 2023 in a newly defined role with the responsibilities of a department chair and a dean who works closely with other college leadership. Inouye joined UH Hilo in the fall of 2019 from Niagara University in New York. His area of expertise is in competitive context and firm-level strategy of small to medium-sized enterprises. Inouye holds a bachelor of arts in psychology (2002), an executive master of business administration (2007), and a doctor of philosophy in business administration (2016), all from UH Mānoa. He also has a master of science in sport management (2020) from Niagara University.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Interim Director
- Research Services
- VP for Research and Innovation
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Office of Research Compliance
- Research Compliance
Job Titles:
- Collegiate Licensing Administrator
Job Titles:
- Education Advocate and Benefactor
Job Titles:
- Executive Administrator and Secretary of the Board of Regents