University of Hawaii Board of Regents Chairman Randy Moore and his wife, Lynne Johnson, have donated $500,000 to establish an endowment fund that will support UH-Manoa’s Music Department.

“Everything at the university is worthy of support, but I wanted to give to music because of Lynne,” said Moore, who was appointed to the board in 2013, in a statement.

Johnson, who holds master’s and doctorate degrees in musicology from UH-Manoa, previously was an elementary school teacher here and in Washington state. She teaches courses in music history at UH and an Opera Highlights class through the university’s outreach college. She currently serves on the boards for Hawaii Opera Theatre, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu Symphony Foundation and Manoa Heritage Center.

Moore, a Punahou School and Stanford University graduate, worked as a local business executive for 35 years, holding positions with Castle & Cooke, Molokai Ranch and Kaneohe Ranch. He retired as CEO of Kaneohe Ranch in 2001.

After retiring, Moore completed post-baccalaureate training at Chaminade University and obtained a license to teach secondary mathematics. He taught for three years at Central Middle School before being recruited by the Department of Education as an assistant superintendent overseeing school facilities and support services for Hawaii public schools.

“We are immensely grateful to Randy and Lynne for this very generous gift, and the example they are setting for other leaders in our community,” UH President David Lassner said in a statement. “It is inspiring to see them supporting their life-long passion for education and community service through this endowment which will make a profound impact on the department and its students for years to come.”

The university said the Randolph G. Moore and Lynne Johnson Endowed Fund for Music will support the department primarily in the area of musicology.

“This generous endowment will greatly enrich the educational experience of our talented students by supporting guest lecturers, teaching staff support, master classes with guest artists, travel expenses for faculty and guest lecturers/artists, purchase of instruments and so much more,” College of Arts and Humanities Dean Peter Arnade said in a statement.