Former Harvard dean to lead BYU Laie campus

Brigham Young University Hawaii has picked a former Harvard Business School associate dean to lead its 2,400-student campus in Laie.

Steven Wheelwright was appointed president of BYU-Hawaii yesterday by Gordon Hinckley, head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Wheelwright will replace Eric Shumway, who is leaving the university after commencement on June 23 for a three-year assignment as president of the Mormon temple in Nukualofa, Tonga.

Shumway said Wheelwright's background as a Stanford University professor, associate dean of Harvard's MBA program, and author of business and technology books will help him deal with challenges facing BYU-Hawaii.

Those include boosting fundraising, focusing on teaching English to international students from about 70 countries so they can return home with jobs, and strengthening the general education program, he said.

"I feel BYU-Hawaii is truly blessed to have a man with tremendous experience, a lot of aloha and good sense," said Shuman, who joined the school in 1966 as an English literature and Tongan language scholar before becoming president in 1994.

Since retiring from Harvard last fall, Wheelwright has been a service missionary at BYU-Idaho. He will visit BYU-Hawaii today and speak to students during an assembly tomorrow.