Thirteen finalists have been nominated to fill four seats on the University of Hawaii’s Board of Regents, including the Honolulu seat held by Chairman John Holzman.
Holzman’s term, and those of three others on the 15-member board, expires June 30.
The finalists include several attorneys, two retired judges, a physician, a former hotel executive and an engineer.
Applicants were screened by the Candidate Advisory Council, which submitted the names to Gov. Neil Abercrombie. The governor’s appointments will need to be confirmed by the state Senate.
Three of the appointments will fill seats representing Honolulu, which are currently held by Holzman, Vice Chairman James Lee and Jeffrey Portnoy, who was appointed in November to serve out the remainder of former Chairman Eric Martinson’s term. (Martinson resigned in August.)
The other opening is for the board’s student seat, which is held by Jeffrey Acido.
The candidates for Holzman’s Honolulu seat are Peter Adler, a planner and mediator; retired Oahu District Judge Russel Nagata; and Stanford Yuen, an engineer and former special assistant to the commander of Navy Region Hawaii.
The finalists for Lee’s Honolulu seat are Walter Kirimitsu, a retired appeals court judge who was previously UH’s attorney and is now president of Saint Louis School; former UH administrator Lee Putnam; and longtime hotel executive Keith Vieira. Lee, an attorney and real estate development executive, is also being considered for reappointment to the seat.
The candidates for Portnoy’s Honolulu seat are Brian Panik, a certified emergency physician; and Honolulu attorney Eric Seitz. Portnoy, also an attorney and currently an interim appointment, has been nominated for a regular term.
The finalists for the student seat are Jori-Anne Jasper, who is pursuing a master’s degree in sociology at Manoa and plans to go on to law school at UH; Priya Rashid, who is studying journalism at UH-Manoa; and Michelle Tagorda, who is working toward a master’s degree in public health at UH-Manoa.
Regents are appointed to five-year terms under state law, while the student representative serves a two-year term.
