Carolyn Ma, interim dean of the University of Hawaii at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy, was tapped to permanently fill the position.
Carolyn Ma, interim dean of the University of Hawaii at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy, was tapped to permanently fill the position.
UH-Hilo Chancellor Donald Straney announced his recommendation Wednesday in an internal email to pharmacy students and staff.
The university conducted a yearlong off-campus search for a permanent dean, but that was unsuccessful, Straney said in the email. Founding dean John Pezzuto left in July 2015.
Ma has “successfully guided the college in her year as interim dean,” Straney said. The college’s finances “are secure” and “construction of a permanent facility is imminent.”
Straney said he asked UH President David Lassner to appoint Ma as dean. That decision ultimately needs to be approved by the university’s Board of Regents. UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said the board likely will vote on it in September.
Administrators hoped to have a permanent hire in place earlier this summer. Last November, they narrowed their search to five finalists.
However, none of those five candidates were chosen. Meisenzahl said Wednesday he couldn’t say why, citing personnel matters, but none “were the fit we were looking for.”
The college has an accreditation visit next March and has “important work” to “prepare for that visit,” Straney said in the email. He said “repeating the search this year would divert attention unnecessarily from these tasks.”
Ma came to UH-Hilo in 2007 as the clinical education coordinator. In 2009, she became chairwoman for pharmacy practice. Prior to her interim dean appointment, she was in charge of operations, faculty and residents for the pharmacy school’s programs on Oahu, Maui and Kauai.
She practiced as a board certified oncology pharmacist at The Queens Medical Center in Honolulu and went on to serve as vice president for clinical program development for AmMed International in Hong Kong. Efforts to reach Ma for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.
The pharmacy school’s long-awaited permanent building is still on track for a 2018 opening, Meisenzahl said. The university received construction permits this summer and plans to start the building project next month.
The college has operated out of five temporary sites since opening in 2007. Plans for a permanent facility have been delayed multiple times in part because UH struggled through the years to secure funding.
In April, the building project was awarded to Isemoto Contracting Co. for $31.3 million.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.