Dr. Evan S. Dobelle, 12th president of the University of Hawai’i, is the keynote speaker at the Kaua’i Chamber of Commerce annual general membership meeting and silent auction, set for this Thursday, Dec. 5 at the Kauai Marriott Resort &
Dr. Evan S. Dobelle, 12th president of the University of Hawai’i, is the keynote speaker at the Kaua’i Chamber of Commerce annual general membership meeting and silent auction, set for this Thursday, Dec. 5 at the Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club on Kalapaki Beach.
The Marriott also sponsors the event, which begins with registration, no-host cocktails and the start of the silent auction at 5:30 p.m.
The charge is $39 for Chamber members, $49 for guests, and $44 for Chamber members signing up after the registration deadline of this Tuesday, Dec. 3.
Please call 245-7363 for more information, or register via fax, 245-8815, or online at www.kauaichamber.org/reservations?viewres&20.
Dobelle became the 12th president of the 10-campus University of Hawai’i system 17 months ago, and remains a well-publicized figure because of his outspoken views on everything from administrative reorganization to the fact that the university has hundreds of different logos on letterhead and other printed materials.
He also endorsed Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono in her bid for governor.
He previously served as president of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.; City College of San Francisco; and Middlesex Community College in Lowell, Mass.
Known for his strong leadership and results-oriented style, Dobelle has spearheaded numerous public-private partnerships aimed at promoting economic development in California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and now Hawai’i.
He is an advocate for the liberal arts as well as research and technology.
In addition to his career in higher education, Dobelle has been involved directly with public administration. A registered independent, he was twice elected mayor of Pittsfield, Mass., and served as that state’s Commissioner of Environmental Management and Natural Resources.
He also served as chief of protocol for the White House, with the rank of ambassador, under Pres. Jimmy Carter.
Dobelle holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in education and public policy from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.
He is tenured as a full professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at UH Manoa, and lectures throughout the world in this discipline.
Dobelle is a trustee of the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which supports major studies on the history, politics and social development of the non-Western world.
Appointed by former Pres. Bill Clinton, he serves until 2005 as one of seven members of the Board for International Food and Agriculture Development, which advises and assists the administrator of international development in developing and implementing the U.S. foreign-assistance program.
Lauded as “a drum major for the social-potential movement,” Dobelle received the 2002 Ghandi, King, Ikeda Award from Morehouse College in Atlanta for his “outstanding career of leadership as an educator and administrator, in which he has dedicated himself to transcending difference and nurturing understanding within diversity among our fellow citizens.”
He was also honored as the 2002 Inspirational Leader of the Year by the Juvenile Diabetes Association of Hawai’i, and has is a member of the National Boys and Girls Clubs’ Hall of Fame.
Dobelle is also a member of the Honolulu Symphony board of directors, and a trustee emeritus of Trinity College.
