#david lassner

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences has received a $470,000 gift from Fujitsu Ltd./Japan-America Institute of Management Science. The donation, administered by the UH Foundation, will support the college’s “robust environment and continued engagement in the global community,” according to an announcement.

Enrollment at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College is up 6% from the last fall, for a total of 2,792 students, according to the University of Hawaiʻi System.

The University of Hawaiʻi is joining the Mountain West Conference as a full member effective July 1, 2026.

Gov. Josh Green joined with University of Hawai’i President David Lassner and the UH Board of Regents today to announce a tentative agreement for university faculty members represented by the University of Hawai‘i Professional Assembly. The deal comes more than eight months before the faculty’s current contract expires June 30, 2025.

All three of University of Hawaiʻi’s four-year universities earned high marks in the US News and World Report 2025 Best Colleges rankings released on Tuesday, including three top-five rankings for UH West Oʻahu, a top-10 national ranking for UH Hilo and UH Mānoa, and a top-20 national ranking for the UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business’ international business program.

Fall 2024 enrollment at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa surpassed 20,000 students for the first time since 2013, the university reports. The final enrollment numbers will not be official until the first week of October, but as of Sept. 17, there are 20,012 students enrolled at UH Mānoa, a 4% increase over 2023. 

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 University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is one of the top universities in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). UH Mānoa was one of 500 universities that made the WSJ/College Pulse 2025 Best Colleges in the US rankings released in September 2024. The schools were selected out of more than 2,600 four-year colleges.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced Wednesday that UH and five other universities have been awarded $26 million to establish a fourth generation (Gen-4) NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) to create sustainable refrigerant technology.

Susan Kazama, a former UH Maui College librarian, has been recommended to be the next Hawaiʻi Community College chancellor by University of Hawaiʻi Vice President for Community Colleges Erika Lacro to UH President David Lassner. Her effective date of appointment is July 19, 2024.

US Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) announced the official release of the new Patsy T. Mink quarter, which is part of the US Mint’s American Women Quarters Program for 2024.

Newly released College and Career Readiness Indicator report findings shed light on the accomplishments and unprecedented challenges faced by high school graduates who were in high school during pandemic shut down.

An electronic poll taken this month by the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly showed that University of Hawaii faculty believe more support for research to maintain R1 institution status should be the top priority for the next president.

The public has one month left to participate in a short, eight-question survey on the next president of the University of Hawaiʻi.

Student enrollment at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College increased by 7.1% this fall, contributing to UH’s overall 1.2% rise in student enrollments across its 10 campuses.

To raise $1 billion for current and future students, faculty and researchers at all 10 University of Hawaiʻi campuses, the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation launched the public phase of the fundraiser called For UH • For Hawaiʻi.

Two-year and four-year scholarships to the University of Hawaiʻi are now available to Lahainaluna High School seniors, thanks to an anonymous philanthropist. The donor agreed to fund the scholarship extensions to two years for any UH community college or four years for any UH university.

Hawaiʻi residents can now apply to any of the University of Hawaiʻi’s 10 campuses without an application fee, as the University seeks to strengthen the pipeline into public higher education across the state.

In recognition of his $5 million donation, the new Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will be renamed the Walter Dods Jr. RISE Center.

University of Hawaiʻi President David Lassner notified the Board of Regents and employees by email on Tuesday that he plans to retire at the end of 2024.