Catherine Shen, the first female Asian-American newspaper publisher in the U.S., died March 31 of pancreatic cancer. She was 68.

Shen was director of communications for the University of Washington School of Public Health, a position she held since August 2011. Dean Howard Frumkin said she was beloved by her staff and colleagues.

Shen was thoughtful and judicious, he said in a phone interview from Washington.

She was born in Boston. Her parents, Shu Chu Chen and Helena Wong Shen, were physicians who came to the U.S. from China. Shen earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in English from Claremont Graduate University.

At 38 she was the youngest female and first Asian-American publisher at a major daily newspaper (the Honolulu Star-Bulletin) in the U.S.

She began her journalism career as a reporter for the Boston Globe and also spent time as an editor of the former People section of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Shen’s seven years as an editor and publisher with Gannett Media Corp. included time as publisher at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin until 1990. She left Hawaii to take on the role of communications director at the San Francisco Foundation, then was editor and later vice president and general manager at Horvitz Newspapers in Washington state.

She left daily newspapers as senior vice president in human resources at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Dave Shapiro, columnist for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and former Star-Bulletin managing editor, said, “Although she took her work very seriously, she didn’t take herself too seriously.”

“She had an off-the-charts IQ and could get to the gist of the matter in a second, but she also had a wonderful sense of humor, even when the joke was on her,” said Shapiro in an email.

He added, “She pushed hard to make the Star-Bulletin a better newspaper, with more hard-hitting news coverage, better writing in features and sports, and a tougher edge to editorials. Along with editor John Flan-agan, she led a major redesign to modernize the physical appearance of the newspaper.”

She is survived by her son, Benjamin Cost, managing editor of Shanghai Expat.

A memorial service is pending.