Dobelle takes Boston
education position

Evan Dobelle, who resigned under pressure as president of the University of Hawaii, has been named the new president and CEO of the New England Board of Higher Education, according to a published report.

Dobelle was slated to begin work at the Boston-based nonprofit agency Jan. 1, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported yesterday on its Web site.

Dobelle resigned as university president Aug. 14 and took a two-year, non-tenured research position at the university as part of a settlement with the Board of Regents, which had fired him Òfor causeÓ June 15.

The settlement was reached July 29 after Dobelle threatened to sue for wrongful termination. The regents rescinded their action and Dobelle agreed to resign with a $1.8 million severance package.

The regents who voted to fire Dobelle had cited a breakdown in trust between the him and the university board.

Dobelle, 59, came to Hawaii in 2001 after seven years as president of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. He also has served as treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, mayor of Pittsfield, Mass., and U.S. chief of protocol in the White House during the Carter administration.

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.