Gov. David Ige announced the appointments of two new regents and the reappointment of a current regent to the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents (BOR) on March 30, 2021. They are: William Haning, III, Wayne Higaki and Diane Paloma.
Higaki will return to his Hawaiʻi County-West seat he has held since 2015. He has served as vice chair of the BOR this past year. He is an assistant administrator for Fund Development and Support Services at Queen’s North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital in Kamuela.
Haning is currently the director of the Addiction Psychiatry/Addiction Medicine Training programs, and deputy program director for the Psychiatric Residency Training program at UH Mānoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). The former naval captain retired as director of undergraduate medical education for JABSOM in 2017. He takes one of the City and County of Honolulu seats.
Paloma is CEO of the King Lunalilo Trust and Home. She previously served as director of the Native Hawaiian Health Program with The Queen’s Health Systems. Paloma is a former faculty member at JABSOM. She serves on the boards of the Partners in Development Foundation, UH Foundation, the Asian-Pacific Islander American Health Forum and the Bishop Museum Association Council. Paloma will take the other Honolulu City and County seat.
All three appointees are subject to Senate confirmation. If confirmed, their terms run from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2026.
The board formulates policy and exercises control over the university’s 10 campuses through its executive officer, the university president. The board has exclusive jurisdiction over the internal structure, management and operation of the university.
