UH president finalists to appear at open house and public forum events statewide

The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents announced two finalists for the next president of the state’s 10-campus public higher education system: Wendy F. Hensel and Julian Vasquez Heilig, Ph.D.

The finalists will be introduced to the UH community and general public through a series of open houses (meet-and-greet opportunities) and public forums (question-and-answer sessions) scheduled for the weeks of Sept. 23 and Sept. 30 in each of the four counties: Maui, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi and Honolulu.

The Maui events will be held Sept. 23 for Hensel and Sept. 30 for Vasquez Heilig. Times and locations are the same for both dates: 8–9 a.m. Open House; and 9:30-10:30 a.m. Campus Forum, both at UH Maui College, Kaʻaʻike Building Rooms 105 BCD. (The forum will be Zoom available and recorded.)

Hensel is executive vice chancellor and university provost for The City University of New York. There, she oversees every aspect of the student and faculty experience across the 25 campus system. Prior to joining CUNY, Hensel held leadership positions at Georgia State University as dean of the College of Law and later provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs. She is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and earned a bachelor’s with highest honors from Michigan State University, where she was a Harry S. Truman Scholar and an intern at the US Supreme Court. Her curriculum vitae is here.

Vasquez Heilig is serving as provost and vice president of Academic Affairs for Western Michigan University. Prior to joining WMU, Vasquez Heilig was the dean of the College of Education at the University of Kentucky, part of his nearly two decades of leadership. His experience includes successful fundraising and financial management and spearheading strategic initiatives that bolstered research and educational innovation. Vasquez Heilig earned his PhD and master’s degrees from Stanford University and holds additional degrees from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. His curriculum vitae is here.

“There was a tremendous amount of interest shown in the president’s position, and now we have two excellent candidates,” said Board of Regents Chair Gabe Lee. “We are asking all members of the UH ʻohana and other stakeholders, along with the general public, to participate in the public events and provide feedback on our finalists. That input will be critical as the regents deliberate and select the next UH president.”

The two finalists will also meet with campus and system leadership teams and faculty, staff and student governance groups, including the Pūkoʻa Council, a group of UH Native Hawaiian leaders. 

“It was very important to the regents that representatives from each campus and the various UH stakeholders have an opportunity to meet the finalists,” Lee said. “I know that all of these stakeholder groups will also provide valuable input to the regents.”

Information on how to provide feedback on each of the finalists will be announced prior to the open houses and public forums. The regents will interview each candidate after the public events and are scheduled to announce their decision in mid to late October. 

There were 93 applicants for the position, a group that was then narrowed down by the Presidential Search Advisory Group. The Advisory Group interviewed 12 semifinalists in late August and then forwarded their recommendations for the finalists to regents for the final decision.

The new president will succeed David Lassner, who will retire by the end of the year after serving since 2014 as UH’s 15th president.