Top banker Horner turns his talents toward education

Don Horner is retiring as CEO from First Hawaiian Bank at the end of this month and building a second home on the North Shore, but he’s hardly stepping out of the limelight.

Far from it.

Horner, 61, whose record of civic duty is rooted in his 33-year career at the state’s largest bank, took on a major role this year as chairman of the state Board of Education, as well as the key position of finance committee chairman with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, which is overseeing the city’s proposed rail line. Those duties were undertaken in addition to his executive position at First Hawaiian, where he helped the bank increase its assets to a record $15.4 billion by the end of the third quarter.

Taking on those extra civic duties is the reason Horner has been named one of the Star-Advertiser’s 10 Who Made a Difference in 2011.

"I have many things I want to do," said Horner, who will remain chairman of the bank. "We write chapters in our lives, and I’m ready to write the next chapter," he said in September upon announcing his retirement.

Former First Hawaiian Chairman and CEO Walter Dods, a current board member and Horner’s predecessor, said Horner is "smart, well organized and thorough."

"He has a strong sense of what is right and will fight for his people and his principles," Dods said. "His commitment to public education and the determination to make a difference almost borders on obsession, but I mean this in a positive way. He has left the bank in outstanding condition."

Horner, a product of public school education in North Carolina, was appointed chairman of the BOE earlier this year by Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Lois Yamauchi, president of Parents for Public Schools, said she has been impressed by Horner’s leadership and his willingness to get more public input.

Cheri Nakamura, coalition director for Hui for Excellence in Education, or HE’E, said that through Horner’s leadership the board has actively sought the community’s viewpoint on various issues. She said HE’E, a coalition of more than 30 community-based organizations focused on improving public education through family and community engagement, has been able to provide input to the board and the Department of Education on various measures, including the high school graduation requirements policy, a school satisfaction survey and the Department of Education’s strategic plan.

"We have been particularly impressed with Chairman Horner’s efforts to encourage the department to seek input from students, parent groups, family support and education-related organizations before making decisions," Nakamura said. "While this may slow some decision-making efforts down, it makes for a better outcome. Chairman Horner has done a very good job of balancing his desire to get things done quickly, with his commitment to broad stakeholder input."