Former president
was job hunting on
UH time and expense

Evan Dobelle's e-mails show that
he inquired into a variety of job openings

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Ousted University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle used school resources to hunt for jobs on the mainland during the past year, according to newly released documents.

E-mails sent between October 2003 and June 2004 by Dobelle, wife Kit and executive assistant Kristin Blanchfield show that Dobelle made inquiries into openings at five mainland colleges, including the University of Massachusetts, the University of Wisconsin, Boston University, Washington College in Maryland and Whitman College in Washington state.

Dobelle also relied on Blanchfield to contact several international executive search firms to work on his behalf, including Korn/Ferry International, Issacson Miller and Russell Reynolds.

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Several e-mails on Dobelle's university computer show that he lobbied mainland heavyweights such as former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Holbrooke and AIG International Chairman Hank Greenberg for the vacant president's position at the Asia Society, a New York-based think tank dedicated to U.S.-Asian relations.

Holbrooke and Greenberg are members of the foundation's board.

Dobelle could not be reached for comment.

But his attorney Rick Fried said that Dobelle was contacted by mainland institutions but did not follow up on any of the potential openings.

Fried said it is his understanding that Dobelle did not seek out any of the organizations.

Bill McCorriston, attorney for the UH regents, who ousted Dobelle from his $442,000-a-year post, declined comment on Dobelle's e-mails. But in general, McCorriston said, the regents expect university employees to adhere to state ethics rules barring them from personal use of public resources.

Regents did not provide an estimate of the amount of university staff time and other resources that went toward Dobelle's job searches.

At least one e-mail indicated that Dobelle attempted to set up meetings on the mainland with potential employers while on UH business.

In a Feb. 11, 2004, e-mail, Dobelle told Asia Society trustee John Thornton, chairman of the Brookings Institution and a senior advisor at Goldman Sachs Group, that he would be in Miami between Feb. 28 and March 3 to attend an educational seminar and could meet with several of the Asia Society's trustees in Jamaica during the trip.

In that same e-mail, Dobelle also told Thornton that he wanted to leave UH because he is a "change agent" who had run out of challenges there.

Four months after the e-mail, the UH regents fired Dobelle. In a mediated settlement, the regents later rescinded the firing in exchange for his resignation.

"I have a long and very secure contract, but I have retained my passion for challenging situations," Dobelle told Thornton. "Being an island, there is a rather risk adverse atmosphere here, the rate of change threatens those whom the status quo works, and the media see controversy as their only hope for profit."

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