UH Board of Regents Approve Appointment of David McClain as Interim Vice President for Research for UH System

Reappointment of UH Hilo Chancellor Rose Tseng and environmental studies certificate program at UH West Oahu also approved during BOR monthly meeting

University of Hawaiʻi
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Posted: Feb 21, 2003

The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents (BOR) today approved the appointment of Dr. David McClain as Interim Vice President for Research for the UH system. McClain serves currently as the Dean of the UH Mānoa College of Business Administration (CBA) and the First Hawaiian Bank Distinguished Professor of Management and Leadership.

The vice president for research for the UH system is a new position created under the reorganization plan approved by the BOR in December 2002. The vice president oversees the development and implementation of long-range planning studies, qualitative evaluation standards, and new research initiatives to enhance the university‘s research mission. He is responsible also for maintaining and promoting effective administrative and operational relationships between UH and the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʻi (RCUH).

McClain received his doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974 and was a tenured professor in the Department of Finance and Economics at Boston University throughout the 1980s. In 1991, he joined UH Mānoa as the CBA‘s Henry A. Walker Distinguished Professor of Business Enterprise. He became dean of the college in 2000.

"Dr. McClain‘s leadership at the College of Business Administration has been outstanding. During his tenure, the international business program has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 20 graduate programs of its kind in the nation," said UH President Evan Dobelle. "Dr. McClain‘s entrepreneurial talents will be a great asset in this new position, and I am enthusiastic that he has accepted this new and exciting challenge."

Dr. McClain‘s salary will be $237,000. UH Mānoa Chancellor Peter Englert and Dean McClain are discussing the transition of leadership for the College of Business Administration.

The BOR also approved the reappointment of Dr. Rose Tseng as Chancellor of UH Hilo. Chancellor Tseng assumed the chancellor‘s position in 1998. Tseng‘s reappointment is for three years and her salary will be $206,000.

In other action, the BOR approved the offering of an academic subject certificate in environmental studies (ESC) at the University of Hawaiʻi — West Oʻahu. The ESC will provide students with an understanding of the underlying scientific and societal roles necessary to finding solutions, prepare students for graduate educational and career opportunities in environmental fields, and address community needs for continuing education about local and global environmental issues. It will be an interdisciplinary certification program that will build on the strength of the science offerings of the UH community colleges at the lower division, and utilize existing courses and programs at the upper division at UH West Oʻahu.

Certificates of recognition were also presented during the meeting by the BOR to the 2002 UH Warriors Football Team and the 2002 UH Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Team. The certificate to the football team, recognizing the team and coaching staff for their successful season leading to an appearance in the ConAgra Foods Hawaiʻi Bowl, was accepted by Assistant Coach Dan Morrison and team members Shawn Withy-Allen and Thero Mitchell.

UH Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Head Coach Dave Shoji and team member Margaret Vakasausau accepted the certificate on behalf of the 2002 UH Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Team for their successful season leading to an appearance in the NCAA Championship Semi-Finals. The team was also recognized for its outstanding academic standings, earning the highest team GPA of the entire Athletics Department for the past semester, an accolade Shoji appreciates especially since the team took all its finals on the road.

Also receiving certificates of recognition were the faculty advisor and team members of the William S. Richardson School of Law‘s 2002 International Environmental Law Moot Court Team. The team, consisting of members Kim David Chanbonpin, Kanoelani Kane, and Joshua Medeiros, finished first in the nation at the International Environmental Law Moot Court Competition in Florida. Faculty Advisor Doug Codiga thanked the Board for the very special recognition and called the team‘s success a reflection of the excellent faculty and dedicated students at the School of Law.

The next monthly meeting of the BOR will be held on March 14, 2003, at 8:30 a.m. at Leeward Community College.