Dobelle returning
to New England

A nonprofit agency overlooks
his clash with UH when he
was president

HARTFORD, Conn. » Former University of Hawaii president Evan Dobelle is expected to return to New England to take a job leading a Boston-based nonprofit agency that supports higher education.

Dobelle, the former president of Trinity College, is expected to be named next month as president of the New England Board of Higher Education. He would begin in December.

Dobelle, 59, was fired by the University of Hawaii's Board of Regents "for cause" in June. After Dobelle threatened to sue, both sides reached a settlement on July 29, under which the regents rescinded their action and Dobelle agreed to resign and take a faculty position for two years.

UH officials said it's unclear what will happen to Dobelle's research, which was being conducted under the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

Under his deal with the board, Dobelle was set to earn about $125,000 annually for two years as a nontenured researcher.

The settlement also gave Dobelle $1.05 million in severance.

Carole A. Cowan, head of the search committee for the New England board, said such clashes have happened before in higher education and added that the committee was impressed with Dobelle's credentials.

"He is the clear choice ... from a very strong field of candidates," she said.

"The committee felt he had a unique background, a blend of experience of public and private colleges ... more than 30 years' experience in government and higher education."

Dobelle will replace Robert A. Weygand, a former U.S. representative and lieutenant governor from Rhode Island, who left earlier this year to become a vice president at the University of Rhode Island.

"It's a very exciting opportunity to perhaps be allowed to provide leadership in that position," Dobelle said. "I look forward to the final decision in November."

Star-Bulletin reporter Mary Vorsino contributed to this story.