New chancellors have been recommended to take the helm at Kapiolani Community College and Honolulu Community College.

Misaki Takabayashi would succeed Louise Pagotto as chancellor of Kapiolani Community College, while Karen Lee, now interim chancellor at Honolulu Community College, will become chancellor Friday.

Erika Lacro, vice president for Community Colleges at the University of Hawaii, recommended the appointments of Takabayashi and Lee to University of Hawaii President David Lassner, according to a Friday UH news release.

Pagotto retires as chancellor of Kapiolani Community College on Dec. 30. Maria Bautista, now interim vice chancellor for academic affairs, will serve as interim chancellor starting Jan. 3, until Takabayashi’s appointment takes effect March 1.

Chancellors function as chief executives of their community college campuses, according to the UH leadership website.

“Kapiolani Community College is the jewel of higher education in Hawaii and will be a key partner in empowering the future educated workforce here and abroad,” Takabayashi said in the news release.

Takabayashi is associate vice president and vice dean of the graduate school at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan. A marine scientist by training and herself a community college graduate, Takabayashi was previously a researcher at UH Hilo, marine science department chair, associate dean for the college of arts and sciences, and interim associate vice chancellor for academic affairs.

“Honolulu CC is such a special college with incredible faculty, staff and students, and with unique and high-performing programs engaged in the community and various industries,” Lee said in the release.

Lee became interim chancellor on June 1, 2019, after working as vice chancellor for academic affairs. She started working at UH in 2001 as an undergraduate coordinator at UH Manoa’s Shidler College of Business. She received a doctorate in education leadership administration from the University of Southern California. She sits on Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s Senior Advisory Group.