David Lassner will become the University of Hawaii’s voting representative to the Mountain West and Big West conference boards of directors next month.

Lassner, who has served as permanent UH president for the past three years, was also appointed interim Manoa Chancellor by the Board of Regents on Thursday, following a 12-2 vote.

He is the first UH president to represent the school on conference boards since M.R.C. Greenwood and will likely serve until the spring, when a new full-time chancellor is expected to be in place. A search is underway.

Lassner replaces Robert Bley-Vroman, whose term as interim Manoa chancellor expires at the end of the month. Bley-Vroman declined to seek an extension.

The chancellor is responsible for casting UH’s vote as a member of the MWC and BWC boards and is also the athletic director’s immediate supervisor.

In a letter to regents chairwoman Jan Sullivan, AD David Matlin wrote, “I believe that his appointment will be advantageous for continuity and it will better equip him to select and manage the permanent chancellor.”

Lassner said, “I think the world of David Matlin. I haven’t sat down and talked with him about the challenges and opportunities in athletics, but (I will). I mean, that is a big part of what we do and who we are in the community. I am a great admirer of him and his work and the progress he has made and I look forward to supporting that.”