Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Holub finalist for chancellor position at University of Hawai’i Mānoa

Outgoing University of Massachusetts Chancellor Robert Holub is considering a change of scenery after he steps down from his post at the University.

Jeff Bernstein/Collegian
Jeff Bernstein/Collegian

In fact, he might trade in New England winters for something a little warmer.

Holub has been named as one of four finalists in the University of  Hawaiʻi Mānoa chancellor search, according to a March 22 UH Mānoa press release. This comes five days after Kumble Subbaswamy was selected as Holub’ replacement on Monday.

Holub, who declined to comment on his application, will visit the Hawaiian university Monday April 16 to 17, when he will meet faculty, staff, students and community members to talk about his visions for the campus, according to a tentative schedule released by UH Mānoa.

The other finalists are Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati Carlo Montemagno, Provost at the University of Delaware Thomas Apple and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Michigan State University Kim Wilcox. Holub is the only finalist with chancellor experience.

“From the very beginning, we’ve been impressed with and appreciative of the inclusive nature of the search for the next UH Mānoa chancellor,” said Search Advisory Committee Chair Klaus Keil, a planetary scientist with the Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at UH Mānoa in a press release. “The committee had an excellent and diverse group of candidates from which to make our recommendations, and the scope of the committee membership included faculty, staff, researchers and students, all stakeholders with a vested interest in the next leader of UH Mānoa.”

The international search was conducted by executive search firm Issacson, Miller.

Search committee co-chair Mark Fukunaga said in a press release that UH Mānoa, the flagship campus of the Hawaiʻi public university system, needs a chancellor that is interested in the social and economic future of Hawaiʻi.

“The next chancellor will lead collaborative efforts between UH Mānoa, businesses, government, the wider community and international institutions, and will need to understand that partnerships are necessary to move UH Mānoa forward,” said Fukunaga. “We feel confident that the field of finalists for consideration will meet that expectation.”

Before Holub started working at UMass four years ago, he served as the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affair at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. He has also worked at a professor of German at the University of California Berkley for 27 years and was the Dean of the Undergraduate Division in the College of Letters and Science.

Holub is leaving the University, following reports that a negative review had been issued by a committee charged with evaluating his performance, according to a Collegian article printed Sept. 4, 2011.

Holub will not be taking a severance package when he leaves the University, UMass spokesperson Ed Blaguszewski told the Collegian in the September article.

Holub declined to comment on if he had applied for any other positions.

Katie Landeck can be reached at [email protected].

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  • J

    johnMar 30, 2012 at 11:39 am

    I seriously doubt he will get the position; he lacks the intelligence, character, interpersonal skills and determination to be a chancellor of an university.

    Reply
  • J

    Jarred RoseMar 30, 2012 at 9:57 am

    They can keep him.

    Reply