Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua to head UH Native Hawaiian initiatives

University of Hawai’i President Wendy Hensel has announced her recommendation that Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua be appointed as the interim director of the Hawai‘i Papa O Ke Ao Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office for the UH System and UH Mānoa, pending UH Board of Regents approval on Thursday, June 4. Goodyear-Kaʻōpua will succeed Kaiwipunikauikawēkiu Punihei Lipe, who is stepping down at the end of May to become the poʻo kula (head of school) at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.

A UH Mānoa professor since 2007, Goodyear-Kaʻōpua brings more than two decades of academic, governance and community-based education experience to the position. In her new role, she will help guide the 10-campus system’s efforts to advance as a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning that champions the principles of aloha and caring for people and place, as it integrates Hawaiian language, culture, history and values across the institution.

“Noelani’s exceptional leadership and deep commitment to uplifting Hawaiian knowledge make her the perfect person to carry this vital work forward,” said Hensel. “As we bid a fond aloha to Punihei and thank her for the lasting impact she made centering ʻike Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian knowledge) across our campuses, we are thrilled to welcome Noelani to guide our university system in its ongoing commitment to becoming a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning.”

Award winning educator, author

An internationally recognized scholar and the 2022 Native Hawaiian Education Association’s Educator of the Year, Goodyear-Kaʻōpua has been instrumental in building the university’s Indigenous politics program, co-founded Nā Koʻokoʻo Native Hawaiian Undergraduate Leadership Program and previously served as chair of the Department of Political Science and UHM interim assistant vice provost for faculty excellence. 

“As we mark 40 years since the Kaʻū Task Force report called on this university to become truly of Hawaiʻi, I am honored to walk a path cleared by kūpuna whose vision was bold,” Goodyear-Kaʻōpua said. “I carry that genealogy forward with gratitude for all Punihei and her team have cultivated, and I look forward to supporting the work that educators across the 10 campuses are doing to expand the university’s capacity to uphold its kuleana to this ʻāina.”

Goodyear-Kaʻōpua earned her bachelor’s degree from UH Mānoa and her PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz, She is a Kamehameha Schools alumna and currently serves on its Board of Trustees. She also co-founded Hālau Kū Māna Public Charter School and was awarded the UH Board of Regents Medal for Excellence in Teaching in 2019. She is also an award-winning author, having co-won the 2019 Ka Palapala Poʻokela award for editing Nā Wāhine Koa: Hawaiian Women for Sovereignty and Demilitarization.