Nancy Lee Ellis, a retired Hawaii Pacific University vice president who helped develop numerous programs during her 23-year career there, died May 16 of ovarian cancer at her home in St. Petersburg, Fla. She was 66.

An HPU news release said Ellis was instrumental in developing and leading programs such as admissions, student life, the arts and programs for military personnel. The university credited her with initiating the Choral Ensembles, which debuted in 2002 and whose International Vocal Ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall, Austria and China.

"We wanted to build a lasting Hawaii Pacific College, then university thereafter. And Nancy was one of our leading figures," said Chatt G. Wright, HPU president emeritus.

Ellis and friend Timothy Y.C. Choy established the HPU Nancy Ellis Award for Achievement in the Arts, an annual $1,500 award presented to an HPU student who has contributed to the arts.

When it was first presented in 2008, Ellis said, "(The arts) challenge us to activate our senses and to interact with the world in a variety of ways. In a university setting, they enhance the overall learning experience," the HPU release said.

Ellis was born in Houston. She moved to Hawaii in 1982 from Southern California, with her husband George Ellis, who became director of then-Honolulu Academy of Arts, now the Honolulu Museum of Art, and their son. She began her career at Hawaii Pacific that year as registrar and veteran affairs coordinator, retiring in 2005 as vice president of Student Support Services. Nancy and George Ellis moved to Florida that year to be closer to family.

In 2003, as a tribute to George and Nancy Ellis’ service in furthering the mission of the Honolulu Academy of Arts to present art relevant to Hawaii’s ethnically diverse community, Art of the Philippines: The George and Nancy Ellis Gallery, was opened, said Samuel A. Cooke, chairman emeritus of the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

HPU presented Ellis with its top honor in 2005, the Fellow of the Pacific Award. She served on the board of Hawaii Opera Theatre, involved with Hawaii Executive Conference and a member of The Chinatown Think Tank.

She is survived by husband George, son Joshua and two grandchildren.

Private services will be held in Florida and Hawaii.

The family suggests donations in her memory to the Nancy Ellis Award for Achievement in the Arts at Hawaii Pacific University, 1132 Bishop St., Suite 307, Honolulu HI 96813; Honolulu Museum of Art, 900 S. Beretania St., Honolulu HI 96814; or Hawaii Opera Theatre, 848 S. Beretania St., Suite 301, Honolulu HI 96813.