(808) 956-8207
president@hawaii.edu
Office of the President
2444 Dole Street
Bachman Hall 202
Honolulu, HI 96822
Wendy F. Hensel serves as the President of the University of Hawaiʻi System, providing strategic leadership across its 10 campuses to drive innovation, educational equity, and academic excellence. Since assuming office in January 2025, she has spearheaded transformative initiatives advancing student success, launched high-impact workforce-aligned degree programs, elevated the research enterprise statewide, and modernized operations.
President Hensel pioneered the Direct2UH program to expand access to higher education across Hawaiʻi and launched a $123-million strategic investment initiative to support a common standard of care across the UH System. She has championed both responsible innovation in artificial intelligence through policy, community education, and strategic partnerships, as well as the advancement of the university’s mission as a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning, where Indigenous culture, values, and knowledge thrive alongside global academic and research excellence.
Hensel joined UH from The City University of New York (CUNY), where, as Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost, she oversaw academic strategy for 25 campuses serving more than 230,000 degree-seeking students and employing 40,000 people. She led initiatives to improve student success, expand high-quality virtual degrees, and align academic programs with emerging workforce needs.
Previously, Hensel spent more than two decades at Georgia State University (GSU) as a tenured professor, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Dean of the College of Law. She helped guide the 53,000-student institution through the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining instruction in all classes. Her leadership contributed to GSU’s national recognition for innovation, undergraduate teaching, and broadening belonging on campus.
A legal scholar in disability law, policy, and ethics, Hensel advocates for people with disabilities and serves on the board of Integrate, which promotes inclusive employment for professionals with autism. She previously practiced law with Alston & Bird LLP and clerked for Judge Orinda Evans of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. An American Bar Association Fellow since 2019, she maintains her professional licensure.
Hensel earned a bachelor’s degree with highest honors in American public affairs from Michigan State University, where she was a Harry S. Truman Scholar and interned at the U.S. Supreme Court. She earned her law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School.