Evan Dobelle

Evan Samuel Dobelle is an educator and politician. He was the twelfth president of the University of Hawaii from 2001 until June 15, 2004, when the university's Board of Regents fired him in absentia. Before he came to Hawaii, Dobelle was the eighteenth president of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut from 1995 until July 2001.[1] (http://www.trincoll.edu/pub/key_officers/dobelle.html) Dobelle also was the president of Middlesex Community College in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1987 and president and chancellor of City College of San Francisco in 1991.

Dobelle has had an extensive political career, serving two elected terms as mayor of Pittsfield, Massachusetts (elected in 1973 at age 27, making him the town's youngest-ever mayor, and again in 1975). He was also the Massachusetts State Commissioner of Environmental Management and Natural Resources. During the administration of Jimmy Carter, Dobelle served as U.S. Chief of Protocol for the White House and Assistant Secretary of State with the rank of ambassador. Dobelle also was treasurer of the Democratic National Committee. His wife Edith Huntington J. "Kit" Dobelle, also served as chief of protocol to First Lady Rosalynn Carter. When Ronald Reagan was governor of California, Dobelle served on his commission for educational reform. [2] (http://starbulletin.com/2004/06/07/news/story1.html) At the University of Hawaii, Dobelle was known as a flamboyant and ambitious leader, sometimes clashing with the relatively staid university leadership.[3] (http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/pdf/ct_fall_03.pdf) In 2002, near the end of the gubernatorial campaign, he publicly endorsed the Democratic candidate, then-lieutenant governor Mazie Hirono. When Dobelle called Republican candidate Linda Lingle to inform her of the endorsement, she hung up on him.[4] (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Nov/07/br/br01p.html)

Dobelle's firing provoked a widespread debate in Hawaii about whether or not the university and its Board of Regents is overly politicized. [5] (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Jun/20/ln/ln07a.html) In July 2004 the University Board of Regents settled with Dobelle, reversing its decision to fire him and clearing him and itself of wrongdoing. In the settlement Dobelle would receive $1.8 million. Dobelle agreed to resign his presidency of the University of Hawaii system and also his tenured position as an urban planning professor. However, Dobelle will continue as a non-tenured research faculty member for two years.

In August 2004 many documents, including meeting minutes of the Board of Regents, were released to the press.[6] (http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?8792f858-fac8-44c5-8c53-ff352e50ed42) The documents detail the strained relationship between Dobelle and the Board of Regents. Later in 2004, the University of Hawaii released audio transcripts of eight hours of meetings, including the one in which regents decided to fire Dobelle. [7] (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Dec/18/ln/ln22p.html)

In late November the Hawaii State Ethics Commission issued an informal advisory opinion that Dobelle failed to disclose as gifts two 2001 trips--to Japan and Molokai--and money from a $200,000-a-year protocol fund. [8] (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Dec/28/ln/ln31p.html) A leading candidate for the presidency of the Boston-based nonprofit organization New England Board of Higher Education, Dobelle was confirmed on November 6, 2004. [9] (http://starbulletin.com/2004/10/23/news/story4.html)

His term began January 1, 2005.[10] (http://www.nebhe.org/news/dobelle.html)

Trivia

Evan's brother, William H. Dobelle, was a scientist who developed a system of artificial vision for the blind.[11] (http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041104/news_1m4dobelle.html)

External links

• UMass Magazine, Winter 1998, "Making Sense of the Relationship Between Trinity College and Hartford: The Man to Do It" (http://www.umass.edu/umassmag/archives/1998/winter_98/wint98_f_trinity.html)

• Honolulu Weekly, March 10, 2004, "Quo Vadis, UH? The State's 10-Campus Institution Faces a Winding Road to Greatness. But President Evan Dobelle Thinks the End is in Reach" (http://www.honoluluweekly.com/archives/coverstory%202004/3-10-04%20UH%20president/uh%20president.html)

• Pacific Business News, July 2, 2004 (http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2004/07/05/story2.html)

• The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 23, 2004, "Wipeout in Hawaii: A President is Toppled Amid Claims Of Arrogance, Cronyism, and Misspending" (http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i46/46a02301.htm)

• The Honolulu Advertiser, December 18, 2004, "Tapes Reveal Hostile Climate Between Dobelle, Regents" (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Dec/18/ln/ln22p.html)

Honolulu Star-Bulletin, December 26, 2004 (http://starbulletin.com/2004/12/26/news/story6.html)

• Lowell Sun, January 25, 2005, "Dobelle: 'I Wanted to Come Home': Higher Ed Board's New Leader Puts Controversy Behind" (http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105%7e4761%7e2672920,00.html)

• The Boston Globe, March 22, 2005, "Selling New England", Opinion piece by Dobelle on promoting higher education in New England. (http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/03/22/selling_new_england/)

• Honolulu Star-Bulletin, May 11, 2005, "Dobelle Behind on $125,000 Homework" (http://starbulletin.com/2005/05/11/news/story5.html)