The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is a public land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offices of the system. Most of the campus occupies the eastern half of the mouth of Mānoa Valley on Oahu, with the John A. Burns School of Medicine located adjacent to Kakaʻako Waterfront Park.
UH offers over 200 degree programs across 17 colleges and schools. It is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission and governed by the Hawaii State Legislature and a semi-autonomous board of regents. It is also a member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.
Mānoa is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". It is a land-grant university that also participates in the sea-grant, space-grant, and sun-grant research consortia; it is one of only three such universities in the country to participate in all four consortia (Oregon State University and Pennsylvania State University are the others). UH and its subsidiary, the Applied Research Laboratory, is one of only fourteen University Affiliated Research Centers (UARC) of the United States Department of Defense and is one of five UARCs in the country for the United States Navy.
Notable UH alumni include Patsy Mink, Robert Ballard, Richard Parsons, and the parents of Barack Obama – Barack Obama Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham. 44 percent of Hawaii's state senators and 51 percent of its state representatives are UH graduates.
History
thumb|Hawaiʻi Hall was the heart of the University of Hawaiʻi when it opened in 1912. It housed classrooms, administrative offices, and the campus's library.
thumb|Entrance to UH Mānoa campus
Founding
The University of Hawai'i at Manoa was founded in 1907 as a land-grant college of agriculture and mechanical arts establishing "the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts of the Territory of Hawaiʻi and to Provide for the Government and Support Thereof". The bill Maui Senator William J. Huelani Coelho through the initiatives of Native Hawaiian legislators, a newspaper editor, petition of an Asian American bank cashier, and a president of Cornell University, was introduced into the Territorial Legislature March 1, 1907 as Act 24, and signed into law March 25, 1907 by Governor George Carter, which officially established the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts of the Territory of Hawaiʻi under a five-member Board of Regents
When Hawaiʻi was granted statehood in 1959, the university became a constitutional agency rather than a legislative agency with the Board of Regents having oversight over the university. Enrollment continued to grow to 19,000 at the university through the 1960s and the campus became nationally recognized in research and graduate education.
Campus
<gallery mode="packed" caption="University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus">
File:University of Hawaiʻi quadrangle.jpg|Quadrangle<br/>
File:Moore Hall, University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa.jpg|Moore Hall
File:Dean Hall, University of Hawaiʻi.jpg|Dean Hall
File:Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa.jpg|Center for Korean Studies
File:East-West Center Japanese Garden at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa.jpg|East-West Center Japanese Garden
</gallery>
Organization and administration
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa operates within the University of Hawaiʻi System, which is governed by an 11-member board of regents who are nominated by the Regents Candidate Advisory Council, appointed by the governor, and confirmed by the State of Hawaiʻi legislature. The board also appoints the president of the University of Hawaiʻi System, who provides leadership for all 10 campuses, including as the chief executive of UH Mānoa. Day-to-day academic and operational management of UH Mānoa is the responsibility of the Provost.
University of Hawaiʻi president (pre-1965)
When UH began as the College of Hawaiʻi, Willis T. Pope served as acting dean from 1907 to 1908, despite declining the title of "acting president." Since that initial period, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has always been led by a president, chancellor, or provost, including interim or acting roles.
From 1908 to 1965, the president of the University of Hawaiʻi, before the creation of the University of Hawaii System (UH System), served as chief executive of the university. Technical and community colleges and Hilo College operated separately from what would later become the UH System.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!No. !! Image !! President !! Term of office !! Notes
|-
| - || - || Willis T. Pope || 1907-1908 || Served as "acting dean" until the Board of Regents could hire a permanent president.
|-
| 1 || center|104x104px || |John W. Gilmore || 1908–1913 ||A graduate of Cornell University and an agriculture professor who established schools in China and the Philippines. Forced to resign.
|-
| - || - || John Donaghho (acting) || 1913–1914|| -
|-
| 2 || - ||Arthur L. Dean ||1914–1927 ||A graduate of Harvard, he oversaw the transformation of the College of Hawaiʻi into the University of Hawaiʻi and growth of the university from 21 students to 874.
|-
| 3 || - || David L. Crawford || 1927–1941 || -
|-
| - || || Arthur R. Keller (acting) || 1941–1942
|
|-
| 4 || - || Gregg M. Sinclair || 1942–1955 || -
|-
| 5 || - || Paul S. Bachman || 1955–1957 || Died in office just 14 months after taking office.
|-
| - || - || Willard Wilson (acting)|| 1957–1958 ||Served as acting president after the death of Paul S. Bachman.
|-
| 6 || - || Laurence H. Snyder || 1958–1963 || -
|-
| 7 || - || Thomas H. Hamilton || 1963–1968 || Served as president of the university until 1965 and both as president and chancellor from 1965 to 1968. Resigned amid protests related to the Vietnam War and controversial faculty tenure cases.
|}
Creation of the University of Hawaiʻi System
In 1965, the Hawaii State Legislature created the University of Hawaiʻi System, which incorporated the technical and community colleges into the university. The President's role was expanded to include oversight of the new university system.
|-
| - || - || Robert W. Hiatt (acting) || 1968–1969 || -
|-
| - || - || Richard S. Takasaki (acting) || 1969 || -
|-
|8 || center|104x104px||Harlan Cleveland || 1969–1974 ||A graduate of Princeton University. Created UH Hilo and appointed the first chancellor for the university. Resigned in the fall of 1973.
|}
Introduction of the chancellor role
In 1974, the role of chancellor was established to handle campus-specific leadership, allowing the UH President to focus on system-wide governance.
Presidents
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!No !! Image !! President !! Term of office !! Notes
|-
| 9 || - || Fujio Matsuda || 1974–1984 || Retired from the university.
|}
Chancellors
- 1974–1984: multiple chancellors
Return to combined leadership (1984–2001)
In 1984, the role of the chancellor was dissolved and the president resumed direct oversight of UH Mānoa.
Presidents
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!No !! Image !! President !! Term of office !! Notes
|-
| 12 || - || Evan S. Dobelle || 2001–2004 ||
|-
|13
| -
|David McClain
|2004–2009
|
|-
|14
| -
|M.R.C. Greenwood
|2009–2013
|Retired at the end of 2013.
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Chancellors
!No !! Image !! President !! Term of office !! Notes
|-
| - || - || Deane Neubauer (interim) || 2001–2002 || -
|-
| 1 || - || Peter Englert || 2002–2005 || -
|-
| - || - || Denise Konan || 2005–2007 || -
|-
| 2 || center|95x95px|| Virginia Hinshaw || 2007–2012 || -
|-
| 3 || - || Tom Apple || 2012–2014 || -
|-
| - || - || Robert Bley-Vroman (interim) || 2014–2017 || -
|}
President and provost (2017–present)
The Provost role was established to handle the academic and operational affairs of UH Mānoa, while the President served as the chief executive of the university and retained overall UH System leadership. This reorganization was made to create a governance structure similar to other major research universities, such as the University of Washington and Indiana University.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Presidents
!No !! Image !! President !! Term of office !! Notes
|-
|15 |||center|95x95px || David Lassner || 2017–2024 || Appointed as president of the University of Hawaii System in 2014 and provided directed oversight of the university in 2017 when the Board of Regents removed the role of the chancellor.
|-
|16 || - || Wendy Hensel|| 2025–present|| -
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Provosts
!No !! Image !! President !! Term of office !! Notes
|-
|1 || - || Michael S. Bruno || 2019–2025|| Bruno announced he would be stepping down as Provost effective July 1, 2025, returning as an Ocean Engineering Professor in the university's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.
|Appointed interim provost by UH President Hensel effective July 1, 2025, taking over for former Provost Bruno. Programs of the college focuses on tropical agriculture, food science and human nutrition, textiles and clothing, and Human Resources. The name of the college was changed in October 2024 to the College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resilience.
Education
The college was established as the Honolulu Training School in 1895 to prepare and train teachers and then Territorial Normal and Training School after Hawaiʻi became a territory in 1905. As the school outgrew its location on the Punchbowl side of Honolulu, a new campus was to be constructed on the corner of University Avenue and Metcalf Street. The first two buildings constructed by the Territorial Department of Public instruction became known as Wist Hall and Wist Annex 1. The normal school was eventually merged into the University of Hawaiʻi in 1931 as the Teacher's College. In 1959, the name was changed to the College of Education.
Arts, Languages, and Letters
thumb|upright=0.75|A spring dance concert at the university
The College of Arts, Languages, and Letters (CALL) is the newest and largest college at the university. It was created following the dissolution of the College of Arts and Science and the merger of the Colleges of Arts and Humanities, Languages, Linguistics, and Literature (LLL) and the School of Pacific and Asian Studies. The college's core focus is the study of arts, humanities, and languages with a particular focus on Hawaiʻi, the Pacific, and Asia Studies.
Business
The College of Business Administration was established in 1949 with programs in accounting, finance, real estate, industrial relations, and marketing. The college was renamed the Shidler College of Business on September 6, 2006, after real-estate executive Jay Shidler, an alumnus of the college, who donated $25 million to the college.
Nursing
The School of Nursing was established in 1951, even though courses in nursing had been offered since 1932 with a partnership with Queen's Hospital School of Nursing.
Honors program
The UH Mānoa offers an Honors Program to provide additional resources for students preparing to apply to professional school programs. Students complete core curriculum courses for their degrees in the Honors Program, maintain at least a cumulative 3.2 grade-point average in all courses, and complete a senior thesis project.
Rankings
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" style="float:right; text-align:center"
|-
! colspan=4 style="" |National program rankings
|-
! Program
! Ranking
|-
| Biological Sciences || 130
|-
| Chemistry || 145
|-
| Clinical Psychology || 88
|-
| Computer Science || 119
|-
| Earth Sciences || 41
|-
| Education || 69
|-
| Engineering || 152–200
|-
| English || 108
|-
| Fine Arts || 124
|-
| History || 98
|-
| Law || 96
|-
| Library & Information Studies || 28
|-
| Mathematics || 127
|-
| Medicine: Primary Care || 56
|-
| Medicine: Research || 62
|-
| Nursing: Doctorate || 74
|-
| Physics || 71
|-
| Political Science || 96
|-
| Psychology || 112
|-
| Public Affairs || 101
|-
| Public Health || 89
|-
| Rehabilitation Counseling || 47
|-
| Social Work || 51
|-
| Sociology || 102
|-
| Speech–Language Pathology || 170
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" style="float:right; text-align:center"
|-
! colspan=4 style="" |Global program rankings
|-
! Program
! Ranking
|-
| Arts & Humanities || 155
|-
| Clinical Medicine || 744
|-
| Engineering || 496
|-
| Environment/Ecology || 185
|-
| Geosciences || 66
|-
| Plant & Animal Science || 279
|-
| Social Sciences & Public Health || 257
|-
| Space Science || 112
|}
The National Science Foundation ranked UH Mānoa 45th among 395 public universities for Research and Development (R&D) expenditures in fiscal year 2014.
Distance learning
The university offers over 50 distance learning courses, using technology to replace either all or a portion of class instruction. Students interact with their instructors and peers from different locations to further develop their education.
For the 2024–2025 academic year, the middle 50% of enrolled students scored between 1050 and 1350 on the SAT (with a 50th percentile of 1200), between 530 and 680 on the SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section (50th percentile: 610), and between 520 and 670 on the SAT Math section (50th percentile: 590).
Research
thumb|Queen Liliuokalani Center for Student Services
With extramural grants and contracts of $436 million in 2012, research at UH Mānoa relates to Hawaii's physical landscape, its people and their heritage. The geography facilitates advances in marine biology, oceanography, underwater robotic technology, astronomy, geology and geophysics, agriculture, aquaculture and tropical medicine. Its heritage, the people and its close ties to the Asian and Pacific region create a favorable environment for study and research in the arts, genetics, intercultural relations, linguistics, religion and philosophy.
According to the National Science Foundation, UH Mānoa spent $276 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 84th in the nation. Extramural funding increased from $368 million in FY 2008 to nearly $436 million in FY 2012. Research grants increased from $278 million in FY 2008 to $317 million in FY 2012. Non-research awards totaled $119 million in FY 2012. Overall, extramural funding increased by 18%.
For the period of July 1, 2012 to June 20, 2013, the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) received the largest amount of extramural funding among the Mānoa units at $92 million. SOEST was followed by the medical school at $57 million, the College of Natural Sciences and the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center at $24 million, the Institute for Astronomy at $22 million, CTAHR at $18 million, and the College of Social Sciences and the College of Education at $16 million.
Across the UH system, the majority of research funding comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Commerce, and the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). Local funding comes from Hawaii government agencies, non-profit organizations, health organizations and business and other interests.
In 2013, UH Mānoa was elected to membership in the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, the leading consortium of research universities for the region. APRU represents 45 premier research universities—with a collective 2 million students and 120,000 faculty members—from 16 economies.
University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center
The University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center is part of the Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Its facility in Kakaʻako was completed in 2013. It is designated as cancer center by the National Cancer Institute and represents Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. It was founded in 1971 and was named the Cancer Research Center of Hawaiʻi before 2011. , Naoto Ueno serves as the center's director.
Demographics
{| class="wikitable floatright sortable collapsible"; text-align:right; font-size:80%;"
|+ style="font-size:90%" |Undergraduate demographics as of Fall 2023
|-
! Race and ethnicity
! colspan="2" data-sort-type=number |Total
|-
| Asian
|align=right|
|-
| Two or more races
|align=right|
|-
| White
|align=right|
|-
| Hispanic
|align=right|
|-
| International student
|align=right|
|-
| Black
|align=right|
|-
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
|align=right|
|-
| Unknown
|align=right|
|-
! colspan="4" data-sort-type=number |Economic diversity
|-
| Low-income
|align=right|
|-
| Affluent
|align=right|
|}
UH is the fourth most diverse university in the U.S.
Two apartment-style complexes are Hale Noelani and Hale Wainani. Hale Noelani consists of five three-story buildings and Hale Wainani has two high rise buildings (one 14-story and one 13-story) and two low-rise buildings. Second-year undergraduates and above are permitted to live in Hale Noelani and Hale Wainani.
Charles H. Atherton YMCA
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the YMCA of Honolulu has enjoyed a close and robust partnership since the university's founding. Beginning informally in 1908, the YMCA held bible classes and discussions at the University of Hawaiʻi, when it was the College of Hawaiʻi. In 1912, the YMCA of Honolulu followed the college to Mānoa valley and continued its work in Hawaiʻi Hall. In 1922, the relationship was formalized and it was one of the largest and most active groups on the university's campus, including hosting events for high school and incoming students.
Associated Students of the University of Hawaiʻi
The Associated Students of the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa (ASUH) is the undergraduate student government representing the 10,000+ full-time, classified, undergraduate students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. ASUH was founded in 1910 as the Associated Students of Hawaiʻi UH competes in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in men's and women's swimming and diving, and indoor track and field while the coed and women's sailing teams are members of the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference.
Men's teams are known as Rainbow Warriors, and women's teams are called Rainbow Wahine. "" means "woman" in Hawaiian. They are most notable for men's and women's basketball, volleyball, baseball, and football programs. The university won the 2004 Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championships. The women's volleyball program won NCAA championships in 1982, 1983 and 1987. The men's volleyball won NCAA championships in 2021 and 2022. The men's volleyball team had previously won an NCAA championship title game in 2002, but the title was later vacated due to violations.
The principal sports venues are Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex, Stan Sheriff Center, Les Murakami Stadium, Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium, and the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
The university's athletic budget in FY 2008–2009 was $29.6 million.
Notable alumni and faculty
Notable alumni of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa include:
- Neil Abercrombie (M.A. 1964, PhD 1974), former governor of Hawaiʻi
- Tammy Duckworth (B.A. 1990), U.S. senator), lawyer, journalist and member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from the 30th District; later a faculty member
- Colleen Hanabusa (B.A. 1970, M.A. 1975, J.D. 1977), former U.S. congresswoman
- Ed Lu, postdoctoral fellow, former NASA astronaut
- Patsy Mink (B.A. 1948), former U.S. congresswoman), judge
Notable faculty of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa include:
- Lee Altenberg, theoretical biologist
- Mapuana Antonio, public health academic
- Tom Apple, physical chemist
- Kim Binsted, computer scientist
- Lyle Campbell, linguist
- Monique Chyba, mathematician
- David Cameron Duffy, conservation biologist
- Kathy Ferguson, political scientist
- David T. Ho, oceanographer
- Bruce Houghton, volcanologist
- Hope A. Ishii, geophysicist
- Reece Jones, geographer, Guggenheim Fellow
- Kenneth Y. Kaneshiro, evolutionary biologist
- David Karl, microbiologist and oceanographer, member of the National Academy of Sciences
- Patrick Vinton Kirch, archaeologist, member of the National Academy of Sciences
- Denise Konan, economist
- Michelle Manes, mathematician
- Karen Jean Meech, astronomer
- Manfred B. Steger, sociologist
Notable former faculty members include:
- Isabella Abbott, ethnobotanist
- Norman Abramson, electrical engineer and computer scientist
- Glenn Cannon, theatre
- Hampton L. Carson, evolutionary biologist
- Jim Dator, political-social science
- Wilbur Davenport, communications engineering, member of the National Academy of Engineering
- Edward DeLong, marine microbiologist, member of the National Academy of Sciences
- Milton Diamond, anatomist
- Mike Douglass, urban planner
- Ruth D. Gates, marine biologist
- Ruth Haas, mathematician
- Richard S. Hamilton, mathematician, member of the National Academy of Sciences
- George Herbig, astronomer, member of the National Academy of Sciences
- Klaus Keil, geophysicist
- Robert A. Kinzie III, biologist and zoologist
- Franklin F. Kuo, computer scientist
- John Madey, physicist
- Margaret McFall-Ngai, biologist, member of the National Academy of Sciences
- W. Wesley Peterson, computer scientist and mathematician
- Joseph Rock, botanist
- Harold St. John, botanist
- Shunzo Sakamaki, Japanese studies
- Richard Schmidt, linguist
- Michael J. Shapiro, political scientist
- Steven M. Stanley, paleontologist and evolutionary biologist, member of the National Academy of Sciences
- Lani Stemmermann, botanist, conservation biologist
- Stephen Vargo, marketing
- Bin Wang, meteorologist
- Satosi Watanabe, theoretical physicist
- Reina Whaitiri, English literature
- Ryuzo Yanagimachi, biologist, member of the National Academy of Sciences
See also
- Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology
- Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT)
- University of Hawaiʻi Marching Band