The University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at Mānoa Chancellor Search Advisory Committee has selected three finalists for the position of chancellor for the flagship campus and has announced Vassilis L. Syrmos, UH Mānoa Interim Provost, as the first finalist to visit the campus April 27–28 (more information on Syrmos is below).
To honor requests by the candidates for confidentiality, the name of each finalist will be announced approximately one week prior to their scheduled campus visit. Information about each finalist will be posted on the ahead of their forums.
Students, faculty, staff, administrators and community members are invited to attend open forums to meet the finalists. Each candidate will share their vision for UH Mānoa, followed by a question-and-answer session. Presentations will be recorded and posted after the final campus visit.
Vassilis L. Syrmos Campus Forum
- Monday, April 27, 2026
- 10:30–11:30 a.m. HST
- Kiawe Conference Room, Bachman Hall
- , webinar ID: 817 8261 3720 and password: 161256
- Campus visit, April 27–28
- Syrmos bio and CV on
- Feedback link available starting April 27
Finalist 2 Campus Forum
- Thursday, April 30, 2026
- 10:30–11:30 a.m. HST
- Kiawe Conference Room, Bachman Hall
- , webinar ID: 859 8027 4989 and password: 206404
- Campus visit, April 30 and May 1
- Bio and CV on will be available on April 23
- Feedback link available starting April 30
Finalist 3 Campus Forum
- Monday, May 4, 2026
- 10:30–11:30 a.m. HST
- Kiawe Conference Room, Bachman Hall
- , webinar ID: 884 9461 6302 and password: 015992
- Campus visit, May 4–5
- Bio and CV on will be available on April 26
- Feedback link available starting May 4
Feedback is a critical part of the search process. Feedback links will be available on the UH Mānoa chancellor search site beginning on the first day of each finalist’s campus visit, when finalists will also meet with campus stakeholders and constituent groups.
Vassilis L. Syrmos
Syrmos currently serves as Interim Provost at the UH Mānoa, a role he has held since July 2025. He previously served for 11 years as the UH system Vice President for Research and Innovation. He has also held leadership roles as associate vice chancellor for research and graduate education at the UH Mānoa and associate dean in the UH Mānoa College of Engineering. Syrmos is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. During his tenure as vice president for research and innovation, UH extramural funding reached a record high of $734 million.
He is the author or co-author of more than 100 journal and conference papers and has authored a book and numerous scholarly articles. He also served on a number of boards and committees supporting research and innovation initiatives.
Syrmos earned his PhD in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a diploma in electrical engineering from Democritus University of Thrace in Greece. His research interests include geometric and algebraic approaches to linear system theory, computational algorithms for signal and image processing, robust and optimal filter design, medical imaging and prognostics and diagnostics for condition-based maintenance systems.