STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3473

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    GOV. MSG. NOS. 813, 814

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred Governor's Message Nos. 813 and 814, submitting for study and consideration the nominations of: 

Board of Regents of the University of Hawai'i

G.M. No. 813	JOHN DEAN, for a term to expire 6-30-2017; and
G.M. No. 814	BENJAMIN KUDO, for a term to expire 6-30-2017,

begs leave to report as follows:

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal histories, resumes, and statements submitted by the nominees and finds John Dean and Benjamin Kudo to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated to the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of John Dean from the Governor and sixty-three individuals.

     Your Committee finds that John Dean is a graduate of Holy Cross College.  He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

     Mr. Dean is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Central Pacific Financial Corp. and Central Pacific Bank.

     Your Committee further finds that Mr. Dean has a strong personal interest in education and improving and supporting the University of Hawaii.  Mr. Dean serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the University of Hawaii's Shidler College of Business and a member of the Advisory Board of the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship.  He is also the founder of the Kipapa I Ke Ala Lecture Series at the University of Hawaii's Shidler College of Business.

     Mr. Dean testified that his long-term goal as a member of the Board of Regents is to lend his expertise to the University of Hawaii's innovation and technology initiatives.  Mr. Dean's background in finance and in the field of venture capitalism will serve him well in helping to promote the development of new technologies that will benefit the University of Hawaii.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Benjamin Kudo from the Governor, The Pacific Resource Partnership, Japanese American Citizens League, and forty-one individuals.

     Your Committee finds that Benjamin Kudo received a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington.  Mr. Kudo received a Master of Business Administration degree and Doctorate of Philosophy in Business from the University of Hawaii Shidler College of Business.  Mr. Kudo received a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University.

     Mr. Kudo is currently the Chief Financial Officer and Manager of the land use, administrative and environmental law group at the law firm of Imanaka, Kudo, and Fujimoto.  Mr. Kudo also heads the Pacific-Asia practice for his law firm.

     Mr. Kudo has also served as a lecturer at the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law and an instructor at the University of Hawaii Shidler College of Business.  Mr. Kudo has served as a lecturer in business law at the University of Hawaii West Oahu since 2009.  Mr. Kudo testified that if it is found that there is a conflict of interest in serving on the Board of Regents due to his position as a lecturer at the University of Hawaii West Oahu, he is willing to resign as a lecturer. 

     Mr. Kudo's experiences as a student and a teacher at the University of Hawaii will provide him with a unique perspective as a member of the Board of Regents and will help him to create better solutions to the challenges facing the University of Hawaii.

     Mr. Kudo's long-term goal as a member of the Board of Regents is to enhance the University of Hawaii's reputation in key areas of academic study.  Mr. Kudo believes that focusing on technology and innovation will greatly benefit the University of Hawaii.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that are attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominees, has found the nominees to be qualified for the positions to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nominations.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

____________________________

JILL TOKUDA, Chair