Arboretum director resigns
amid investigation by UH
The director of the Lyon Arboretum resigned this week while a university investigation is being conducted and a state audit has been approved over allegations of mismanagement of the 194-acre botanical garden in the back of Manoa Valley.
Alan Teramura turned in a letter of resignation Monday, University of Hawaii officials said. UH-Manoa is in the process of naming an interim director, and then a search will begin for a new director, said Charles Hayes, interim dean of the College of Natural Sciences. Teramura will retain his tenured faculty position in the botany department.
Teramura became director of the arboretum, which, like the Waikiki Aquarium, is part of UH-Manoa, in August 2001. He had previously been senior vice president for research and dean of the graduate division until the position was eliminated in an administrative restructuring. Teramura, a Los Angeles native, came to UH-Manoa in 1995 as dean of the College of Natural Sciences.
Teramura resigned because he thought it would be better for the institution if he left, Hayes said.
"He (Teramura) has done a number of things that have helped the Lyon Arboretum, but he's also done a number of things that the staff has not been in agreement with," Hayes said.
Formal complaints about Teramura's management of the arboretum have been festering since last fall, staffers said at this month's Board of Regents meeting.
The allegations include ignored safety concerns over recent renovations and on trails, the loss of rare plants because of a badly planned renovation, conflicts over the future of the institution, alleged retaliation and finances.
The regents asked the university administration to conduct an investigation into the allegations.
Teramura did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Jim Gaines, UH vice president for research, said he is in the midst of his fact-finding mission but has forwarded short-term recommendations to the UH-Manoa chancellor, such as closing some trails where there are safety concerns.
Gaines said he will be reporting to the regents at next month's meeting.
He said it appears there is a "culture clash" between those who want to maintain the arboretum as a botanical garden and those, such as Teramura, who want to develop it as a resource for research.
The allegations were also aired at hearings at the state Legislature, which passed a resolution this week calling for state Auditor Marion Higa to conduct a management and financial audit of the arboretum.
The Lyon Arboretum, established in 1918 by the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association, maintains a collection of more than 5,000 tropical plant species including one of the largest palm collections found in a botanical garden; supports Hawaii's horticulture and agriculture industries; and works to preserve and restore Hawaii's tropical forests.