Gov. Neil Abercrombie has nominated the former head of Kaneohe Ranch, a retired Hawaii island businessman and the executive director of the Maui High Performance Computing Center to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents.

The nominations, subject to Senate confirmation, are for five-year terms that begin July 1.

The three were chosen from a list of candidates presented to the governor by the Regents Candidate Advisory Council, and are poised to join the board as it seeks to address ongoing criticism of its operations.

The nominees are:

» Randy Moore, a longtime business executive and former CEO and president of Kaneohe Ranch.

Moore would begin to serve immediately upon confirmation, as he was also selected as the interim regent for the at-large seat vacated by former Regent Michael Dahilig, who resigned Jan. 2.

Moore is well known in K-12 education circles for his years as the head of facilities and support services at the Department of Education.

In 2001 he left his job as president and CEO of Kaneohe Ranch to fulfill a dream of teaching math. He spent three years in the classroom at Central Middle School.

» Retired business executive Barry Mizuno, who was nominated for a Hawaii County seat. He served a partial term on the board in 2011.

Mizuno said he is acutely aware of the criticisms of the regents and is committed to ensuring that the board regains the public’s trust.

"A comment that I’ve heard is that the current board is just a rubber stamp for the (UH) administration," he said.

"Definitely, we need to work toward regaining the confidence and the credibility from the public. It’s been damaged, undoubtedly," Mizuno added.

Mizuno has held leadership positions in two Hawaii County administrations and oversaw the Puna Geothermal Venture from its infancy until 2006.

He then formed a private energy consulting firm, before retiring in 2012.

» Eugene Bal, a retired Navy captain who now heads the Maui High Performance Computing Center.

Bal declined comment Tuesday except to say he was grateful to have been nominated for a Maui County seat.

Bal has been executive director of the computing center for 16 years.

If confirmed by the Senate, the nominees will join the board as it works to improve its operations in the wake of last year’s botched Stevie Wonder concert, which was to be a benefit for UH athletics but ended up costing the school more than $200,000 in an alleged scam.