University of Hawaii at Manoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman announced an eight-person search advisory committee with the goal of naming a new athletic director no later than mid-year.

Warren H. Haruki, president and CEO of Grove Farm Co. and chairman and CEO of Maui Land & Pineapple Co., will lead the committee, Bley-Vroman announced Tuesday.

Outgoing athletics director Ben Jay announced his resignation Dec. 9, two years after being hired for the position.

In preparation for posting the position Thursday, the UH Board of Regents Personnel Affairs Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday in executive session to discuss the “salary range for UH Manoa Athletic Director,” according to the agenda. 

Jay has been paid an annual salary of $293,000. 

Bley-Vroman said interested candidates will have about a month to submit their applications. Initial interviews will be held no later than early March with a selection “no later than mid year.”

Bley-Vroman said, “We are looking for a leader capable of excelling in multiple areas including community outreach and partnership building, with the dual goals of continuing academic achievement of our student-athletes while putting UH’s 21 teams in the best possible position to win. We also need someone with the ability and agility to lead UH during this complex and important time in the evolving national collegiate athletics landscape.”

In addition to Haruki, the other committee members are:

>> John Dean, chairman and CEO, Central Pacific Bank;

>> David Ericson, faculty athletics representative and professor in the College of Education, UH Manoa;

>> Dr. Elizabeth M. Ignacio, IMUA Orthopedics, Sports & Health LLC, assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, UH John A. Burns School of Medicine, surgical director at Queen’s Center for Sports Medicine;

>> Marilyn Moniz-Kahoohanohano, assistant athletics director, Intercollegiate Athletics, UH Manoa;

>> Amanda Paterson, director of compliance, Intercollegiate Athletics at UH Manoa;

>> Allen Uyeda, retired president and CEO, First Insurance Co. of Hawaii;

>> Dr. Kelley Withy, professor at UH John A. Burns School of Medicine.

UH said Michele Tom, the UH Manoa executive search coordinator, will assist in an ex-officio capacity.