Delaware's Tom Apple named chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Lynne Waters, (808) 956-9803
Associate Vice President, External Affairs & University Relations, UH System
Jodi Leong, (808) 956-9437
Director of Communications, External Affairs & University Relations, UH System
Posted: May 17, 2012

Tom Apple
Tom Apple
HONOLULU (May 17, 2012) - The University of Hawai‘i System is proud to announce that distinguished scientist and academic leader Dr. Tom Apple, currently provost at the University of Delaware, will become chancellor of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. The University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents approved Apple’s appointment at its May meeting today at the UH Mānoa John A Burns Schools of Medicine.
 
UH Board of Regents Chairman Eric Martinson said, “The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa is our flagship campus and home to our important research enterprises, which will continue to grow in the coming years. An institution with such a critical role to play in Hawai‘i’s economy must have its own leader dedicated to charting progress for the school itself while contributing to the overall strength of the entire system. We are confident Dr. Apple will be that leader.”
 
“We are extremely pleased to welcome a distinguished scientist, academician and administrator in Tom Apple,” said University of Hawai‘i President M.R.C. Greenwood. “He will bring to the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa an impeccable reputation as a researcher and a strong track record as a recruiter of top-tier faculty. As we continue our strategic efforts and launch new initiatives to increase UH’s stature and recognition nationally and internationally, Chancellor-to-be Apple will be a visionary and proven, forward-thinking leader for the flagship campus of the UH System.”
 
Dr. Thomas Apple
Tom Apple, a University of Delaware alumnus, has served as a dean and as provost at the university since 2005. He was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences effective July 1, 2005, and was named provost effective July 1, 2009.
 
As the chief academic officer of the university, the provost is responsible for the administration of all programs of instruction, research, and service, and for facilitating the success of the university's faculty and students. The deans of the seven colleges report directly to him as do the deputy provost, the senior vice provost for research, the vice president for student life and the vice provost for graduate and professional education.
 
Apple earned his doctorate in physical chemistry at the University of Delaware in 1982, after completing his bachelor's degree in biology at Pennsylvania State University in 1976. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at Iowa State University from 1981-83.
 
University of Nebraska: From 1983-87, Apple was an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Nebrasaka. From 1987-91, he was an associate professor of chemistry. He won the university's Parents Association Teaching Award in 1990 and 1991.
 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Apple was vice provost for administration at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 2002-05 and was dean of graduate education and professor of chemistry at Rensselaer from 2001-05. Apple joined the Rensselaer faculty in 1991, chaired its Department of Chemistry from 1997-2001, and served as interim vice provost for institute diversity from 2002-03. In 1996, he won the Rensselaer Trustees' Outstanding Teacher Award.
 
Apple's research in zeolite materials and polymeric materials has been funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, as well as support from the National Institutes of Health and others, and he is the author or coauthor of numerous articles in professional journals. His wife, Anne, earned her master's degree in chemistry at UD and her doctorate in veterinary medicine at Iowa State University.
 
"The University of Delaware is indebted to Tom for seven years of remarkable service -- first as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and then as provost,” said University of Delaware President Patrick Harker. “The number and caliber of faculty we've hired during Tom's tenure, the academic programs we've added and strengthened, the incredibly talented students we've enrolled -- all of it is a testament not only to Tom's dedication but also to his fundamental belief in the transformative power of higher education. He understands how UD transforms the lives of its students, and how the work we do here transforms our world. I wish him the best as he takes that vision to the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa."
 
About the Selection Process
This selection comes after an extensive search process that involved a Search Advisory Committee Co-Chaired by Dr. Klaus Keil of the Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and businessman Mark Fukunaga, Regent Emeritus and Chief Executive Officer of Servco Pacific, Inc., and consisting of up to two dozen representatives from faculty, students, deans, administrative staff, alumni, the Hawaiian community, and leaders from the broader Hawai‘i community statewide.
 
Executive search firm Isaacson, Miller helped recruit, screen and consider over 400 potential candidates from across the nation and the Search Advisory Committee interviewed and narrowed that field. On-site invitations to visit the UH Mānoa campus were issued to four finalists, and each completed a full two-day agenda in Honolulu, meeting with key university constituencies and the general public.
 
Information about the advisory committee, the selection process and a complete biography of Dr. Tom Apple is available at www.manoa.hawaii.edu/executivesearch.
 
About the University of Hawai‘i System
Established in 1907 and fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the University of Hawai‘i is the state’s sole public system of higher education. The UH System provides an array of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees and community programs on 10 campuses and through educational, training, and research centers across the state. UH enrolls more than 50,000 students from Hawai‘i, the U.S. mainland, and around the world. For more information, visit www.hawaii.edu.

About the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa serves approximately 20,000 students pursuing more than 225 different degrees. Coming from every Hawaiian island, every state in the nation, and more than 100 countries, UH Mānoa students thrive in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas. For more information, visit manoa.hawaii.edu and manoa.hawaii.edu/media. Follow UH Mānoa on Facebook and Twitter.