UH Board of Regents Appoints David McClain Interim UH President

Board action draws enthusiastic support

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Posted: Oct 22, 2004

The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents (BOR) appointed David McClain as interim president of the University of Hawaiʻi System at its monthly meeting held today at Hawaiʻi Community College in Hilo. His appointment is effective August 15, 2004, and runs through August 14, 2006.

"The board is extremely pleased that Dr. McClain has agreed to accept the position as interim president and looks forward to working with him and his administration on the myriad of issues facing our 10 campuses. During the time Dr. McClain has served as the acting president, the Board and administration have enjoyed working together collaboratively on the many issues of importance to our university system. All of the Regents are pleased with the trust, communication and mutual respect in our working relationship with President McClain," said BOR Chair Patricia Lee.

McClain‘s appointment by the board was greeted with a standing ovation by students, faculty and staff present at the BOR meeting in Hilo today. Many people spoke in support of the appointment and thanked the Regents for naming McClain as interim president.

Terms of the two-year contract include an annual salary of $325,000 a year, residence at College Hill, a monthly car allowance of $326, and a year sabbatical leave upon successful completion of the two-year appointment with compensation set at $190,000.

In remarks following the announcement of his appointment, Interim President McClain said, "I am both honored and humbled to be asked to lead the University of Hawaiʻi, and I‘m grateful for the confidence of the board. This is a time of great promise for the university, and of notable challenges as well.

"Our strategic plan, grounded in the values of our host Hawaiian culture, is to be a university that is locally responsive and globally significant. My goal as the chief executive of this great university is to finance the hopes raised by the strategic plan and to bring more resources into the enterprise. I intend to do so in a way that makes student access and success everyone‘s responsibility, and that honors and supports our remarkable faculty and supportive staff," he said.

McClain added, "I pledge that my leadership team, our chancellors and my colleagues at the UH System office, working under the guidance of our dedicated Board of Regents, will be relentlessly ambitious for this university, which for nearly 100 years has transformed students‘ lives, given them the ingredients for success, and in so doing has prepared them to change the world."