C. Scott Wo, of First Hawaiian Bank and Third-Generation Business Owner, Appointed to WICHE Commission

BOULDER, Colorado – C. Scott Wo, lead independent director of First Hawaiian Bank, has been appointed to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) by Gov. Josh Green.

Alongside his role at First Hawaiian, Inc, Wo serves as chair of the University of Hawai‘i Foundation and as a member of the advisory board for the American Red Cross Pacific Islands Region. He is also a third-generation owner and executive of C. S. Wo & Sons, his family’s home furnishing company, and an adjunct professor of finance and management at Columbia Business School. 

Previously, Wo held numerous nonprofit leadership positions, including finance chair of The Queen’s Health System, investment chair and treasurer of Aloha United Way, board chair and treasurer of the American Red Cross Pacific Islands Region, and president of the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council. Wo holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from the Columbia Business School at Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in finance from the Anderson School at UCLA.  

“Commissioner Wo brings a remarkable combination of business leadership, community engagement, and commitment to higher education,” said WICHE President Demarée Michelau. “His experience and perspective will strengthen the Commission’s work as we advance educational opportunity and student success across Hawaiʻi and the West.”  

The WICHE Commission is comprised of 48 Commissioners appointed by governors of 15 Western states and, in the case of the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States, the presidents of three sovereign nations. WICHE Commissioners are leaders in higher education and include state higher education executive officers, college and university presidents, legislators, business and community leaders, and other key partners. Together, they guide WICHE’s strategic direction and assure that the Western Regional Education Compact adopted by the Western states in 1953 is carried out for the benefit of the region. 

Wo joins Terrence George, CEO of the Hawai’i Community Foundation, and Wendy Hensel, President of the University of Hawai’i System, representing Hawai’i on the WICHE Commission.