Chancellor appoints search committee for new UH Athletics Director

Volleyball action at the Stan Sheriff Center.

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman has formed an eight-person search advisory committee to select a new UH Athletics Director.  Warren H. Haruki, President and CEO of Grove Farm Co. and Chairman and CEO of Maui Land and Pineapple Co., will chair the committee.

“We are looking for a leader capable of excelling in multiple areas including community outreach and partnership building, with the dual goals of continuing academic achievement of our student-athletes while putting UH’s 21 teams in the best possible position to win,” said Bley-Vroman. “We also need someone with the ability and agility to lead UH during this complex and important time in the evolving national collegiate athletics landscape.”

Following the committee’s initial meeting on January 9, the next steps in the process will be the posting of the position on January 14. Then interested candidates will have about a month to submit their applications, with the committee to begin the process of reviewing the applicants and performing the required due diligence and reference checks in mid-February.  Initial interviews will be held no later than early March. 

Bley-Vroman reiterated the general timeline to select the new Athletics Director by no later than mid-year, noting that the process outlined above is designed to achieve that deadline.  He also expressed his thanks to committee members for their commitment and willingness to serve. 

In order to provide transparency to the many stakeholders who care so deeply about UH Athletics, a website (www.manoa.hawaii.edu/executivesearch/athldir) will be live by the end of the day on January 14.  There will be periodic updates as the committee moves through the very important selection process for this key position.

In addition to Haruki, the other committee members are:

John Dean -- Chairman and CEO, Central Pacific Bank

David Ericson -- Faculty Athletics Representative and Professor, College of Education, UH Mānoa

Elizabeth M. Ignacio, MD -- IMUA Orthopedics, Sports and Health, LLC; Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, UH John A. Burns School of Medicine; Surgical Director, Queen’s Center for Sports Medicine

Marilyn Moniz-Kahoohanohano -- Assistant Athletics Director, Intercollegiate Athletics, UH Mānoa

Amanda Paterson -- Director of Compliance, Intercollegiate Athletics, UH Mānoa

Allen Uyeda -- President and CEO, First Insurance Co. of Hawai‘i, Ltd. (Retired)

Kelley Withy, MD -- Professor, UH John A. Burns School of Medicine

Assisting the committee in an ex-officio capacity will be Michele Tom, the UH Mānoa executive search coordinator.