The search for the successor to University of Hawaii President David Lassner officially will begin in late May following the Board of Regents’ approval of the job description and leadership profile.

The description and profile were based on feedback from six public forums held on four islands, and a public survey along with input from the regents and the Presidential Search Advisory Group, which edited and finalized the profile before it was brought to the board.

Lassner, 69, announced in September that he will retire at the end of 2024 following more than 10 years in the position.

WittKieffer, the search firm hired by the board, will start the recruitment with outreach and national advertisements.

The search’s timeline, approved by the regents in March, calls for the naming of three to four finalists by September and a final selection in October. The new president would start the job in early 2025.

As part of the search, the Presidential Search Advisory Group will review candidate applications, identify and recommend candidates for interviews, interview the first round of eight to 12 candidates and recommend semifinalists to a selection committee composed of all 11 regents.

Approximately 565 people attended the six public forums held across the state in person or via Zoom, and the public survey received 2,093 responses, university officials said.

The UH president is the administrative head of the 10 campuses and system operations of Hawaii’s only public university, which serves 49,000 students and employs 10,000 employees across six islands.

Despite heavy lobbying in recent months to open up the selection committee to a larger group in the UH community, the board ultimately decided to reserve the final pick among the 11 regents.

Lassner began working at UH in entry-level roles in information technology in 1977, eventually becoming UH’s first chief information officer and then its first vice president for information technology. In July 2014 he was named the 15th president of UH after serving as interim president since July 2013.