(BIVN) – Wendy Hensel has been selected as the next president of the University of Hawaiʻi. 

At a Thursday meeting, the Board of Regents voted unanimously to appoint Hensel to head the 10-campus system. 

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of an exhaustive, extensive, nationwide search and hiring process, where our stakeholders were able to participate at every stage,” said Board of Regents chair, Gabe Lee. “I am confident that Wendy Hensel is the right person to lead UH and help guide the state through the significant challenges ahead.”

The three year term comes with a $675,000 annual salary and a $7,000 per month housing allowance. Hensel will also receive up to $60,000 for moving expenses, and a “tenure fallback position” in the UH Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law.

From a University of Hawaiʻi news release:

Hensel is currently the Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost at the City University of New York (CUNY) and has served in that position since 2022. CUNY is a 25-campus system with an enrollment of 235,000 students.

Image from UH video livestream.

Prior to CUNY, Hensel held leadership positions at Georgia State University as the Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College of Law. She is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and earned a bachelor’s degree with highest honors from Michigan State University, where she was a Harry S. Truman Scholar ​​and an intern at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hensel will succeed David Lassner who announced in September 2023, that he would retire at the end of 2024 after serving as president for more than 11 years. The extensive nationwide search for his replacement attracted 93 applicants.

The Presidential Search Advisory Group, volunteer representatives from UH stakeholder and governance groups who developed the position description and leadership profile, identified and interviewed 12 semi finalists. Three finalists were selected and two agreed to continue the process and participated in public events that included question and answer sessions and private meetings with stakeholders groups.

“Mahalo to the search advisory group and to thousands of people who participated in the process by completing the initial public survey and forums on what we need in a UH president,” said Lee. “And those who attended the public forums and provided feedback to the regents, which really helped inform our decision. It was invaluable.”