Scientist wins A 52-year-old research scientist and New Zealand university administrator this morning was named chancellor of the Manoa campus of the University of Hawaii.
chancellor’s job
at UH-Manoa
Peter Englert will earn $254,000
to oversee the largest campusBy Treena Shapiro and Leila Fujimori
tshapiro@starbulletin.com
lfujimori@starbulletin.comPeter Englert is currently the pro vice chancellor and dean of science, architecture and design at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. He will take office Aug. 1, becoming the top executive for the university's largest campus.
Englert said he hopes to be on campus before then to continue discussions begun with the faculty, staff, students, president, deans and directors.
New chancellor Peter Englert is lauded for bringing broad Asian and Pacific experience to UH-Manoa.
Englert's salary will be $254,000, the median salary for the chief executive officer of a Research I university, according to UH spokesman Paul Costello.
"I'm delighted and honored by the trust that the campus community, the Regents and the president have in me," Englert, reached in New Zealand, said this morning.
Having lived and worked in California and New Zealand, Englert said he has a greater appreciation for Asian and Pacific cultures, which he feels will help him to become "integrated into the cultural environment of Hawaii."
University President Evan Dobelle described Englert as having "an impressive combination of broad experience in Asia and the Pacific along with the kind of vision and proven leadership skills that will serve us well."
"He rightfully sees the University of Hawaii as the hub for intellectual pursuits in the Pacific," Dobelle said.
Despite his predominantly science background, Englert said, "I have a strong commitment to the liberal arts principle of the American undergraduate education.
"I think I can be a good chancellor, and I can will bring not just the sciences, but the humanities, the social sciences and the arts to new heights."
He expressed a personal love for music, an interest in English literature and an appreciation for the humanities and the arts and sciences.
The Board of Regents approved his appointment at its monthly meeting this morning.
In addition to his administrative duties, he has continued his scientific research and is a member of the 2001 Mars Odyssey Gamma-Neutron Spectrometer Flight Investigation Team, which launched a spacecraft in April 2001.
A native of Germany, Englert received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in chemistry/nuclear chemistry at the University of Cologne, Germany, where he also held a senior staff research and teaching position in the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry.
Englert spent 12 years as a chemistry professor at San Jose State University in California, before moving to New Zealand in 1995.
There he was general manger of the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd., before moving into an administrative and teaching position at Victoria University.
Englert is fluent in English and German with knowledge of basic Spanish and Maori.
He will be the first permanent chancellor for Manoa since 1986, when the position was incorporated in the university's president's office. The position was re-established when Dobelle became president last year.
Englert was selected from a field of 50 applicants and nominees for the job.
University of Hawaii
