Confirmation hearings are tomorrow for the three men nominated by Gov. Linda Lingle to serve on the board that oversees the 10-campus UH system.

For the three vacancies on the board, Lingle nominated current regent Chuck Gee, a former dean of the Travel Industry Management School; Maui resident and former Silicon Valley businessman Ronald Montgomery; and Matthew Williams, who is getting a dual master's in business administration and nursing at UH-Manoa.

Senate Higher Education Committee Chairwoman Jill Tokuda said the gender of the nominees will not play a role in whether they are confirmed. She said the nominees will be judged on their qualifications and answers to a questionnaire that each nominee was asked to answer.

Tokuda said she had hoped the governor would have selected at least one more woman to the board.

“;I was very impressed by the caliber of the female candidates,”; she said.

The female nominees who were not selected for the three vacancies were accounting executive Terri Fujii, Maui graphic artist Sadedene Ota and UH-Manoa Ph.D. candidate Hannah Miyamoto.

The only female regent is Maui flower grower Teena Rasmussen. Her term expires in 2012.

If confirmed, Williams would replace student regent Grant Teichman for a two-year term. Montgomery would replace Maui regent Jim Haynes and serve a five-year term.

The nominees were selected from a list sent to the governor in February by the Regents Candidate Advisory Council.

The terms of the new regents will start in July.