Wendy Hensel

About Wendy Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel, a champion of access and innovation in higher education, assumed the dual roles of president of the University of Hawaiʻi System and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa on January 1, 2025. As the leader of Hawaiʻi’s sole public higher education system, Hensel provides leadership and strategic direction for UH’s 10 campuses. She is committed to advancing the system’s mission, ensuring academic and operational excellence, and fostering an inclusive, Indigenous-centered culture where Native Hawaiian values and knowledge thrive alongside global academic and research excellence. Hensel joins UH after serving as Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost at The City University of New York (CUNY), where she oversaw academic strategies across a 25-campus system with more than degree seeking students and employees. At CUNY, she led strategic initiatives to improve student success, expand high-quality virtual degree programs and enhance workforce development by aligning academic programs with emerging job market needs. Before joining CUNY, Hensel spent more than two decades at Georgia State University (GSU), the largest public university in Georgia, where she was a tenured full professor and held key leadership roles as Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College of Law. She played a critical role in guiding the institution through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring uninterrupted instruction for its students. Her leadership contributed to GSU’s national recognition for innovation and excellence in undergraduate teaching, as well as for its commitment to broadening belonging on campus. A legal scholar specializing in disability law, policy and ethics, Hensel is a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and serves on the board of directors for Integrate, an organization promoting inclusive employment for professionals with autism. Before her academic career, Hensel practiced law at Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta and served as a judicial clerk for Judge Orinda Evans of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Hensel was inducted as a Fellow of the American Bar Association in 2019 and maintains her professional licensure. Hensel holds a bachelor’s degree with highest honors in American public affairs from Michigan State University, where she was a Harry S. Truman Scholar and interned at the U.S. Supreme Court. She earned her law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Experience

1. President

   University Of Hawai I System

   Jan 2025 — Present

Education

• Michigan State University

  B.A., Political Economy; James Madison College

  1988 — 1992

• Harvard Law School

  J.D., Law

  1992 — 1995