David McClain
President, University of Hawai'i System
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David McClain currently sits at the top spot as president of the 10-campus University of Hawaii system, 15 years into his involvement with Hawaii's flagship university. And his role in the state's premier academic institution carries with it an incredible mission to uplift the lives of Hawaii's citizens through learning.
David believes in the power of education in molding the society and firmly supports the values and undertakings of the UH system. David outlines three main goals of the institution focusing on economic and cultural advancement.
The first goal of the university points to the development of educational capital in the state subsequently leading to the second goal, which is the provision of proper education and training to Hawaii's workforce. The accomplishment of these two objectives would eventually put forward the third goal, which is economic diversification.
"It's never a good thing to put your eggs in one basket," David says, which is why the University of Hawaii advocates the diversification of Hawaii's central industries to broaden the economy and offer better and brighter opportunities to Hawaiians.
According to David, the role of a public university in particular and a public university system is to provide greater educational prospects for the under-represented groups in the society.
"And particularly for us, it's the native Hawaiian communities, not exclusively but particularly because our strategic plan with the university is grounded in native Hawaiian values and the first people who came to this island," he says.
UH is the fifth largest institution in the state, surpassing many other corporations operating in the islands, according to David. The University of Hawaii earns $1.5 billion in revenue through its 80 thousand students pursuing either credit or non-credit degrees. David said that the sheer vastness of the academic institution implis a huge and positive impact to the Hawaiian community.
McClain previously served as vice president for academic affairs for the system from 2003 to 2004 and as dean of the UH Manoa College of Business and First Hawaiian Bank Distinguished Professor of Leadership and Management from 2000 to 2003. He first joined the Manoa campus in 1991 as the Henry A. Walker Jr. Distinguished Professor of Business Enterprise and professor of financial economics and institutions and professor of financial economics and institutions.
In this Greater Good Television interview, David McClain talks about his journey through life from his early beginnings in a small mid-west town in Missouri to his stint as a U.S. Military 1st Lieutenant in Vietnam to heading the largest educational entity in the state of Hawaii. Watch David McClain, pedagogue and philanthropist, as he shares his thoughts on community giving and the importance of advancing education to better the lives of tomorrow's children. Find out more only on Greater Good Television.
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