Fil-Am nominated for University of Hawaii regents board

Simeon Acoba Jr. Photo from https://www.law.hawaii.edu

HONOLULU — Retired Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Simeon Acoba Jr., who turned 70 this year, is among the candidates being considered for a Honolulu seat on the University of Hawaii board of regents by Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

Four regents resigned from the 15-member Regents Board when members were added to the list of public officials who must disclose financial interests to the public, reported the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on September 19. Abercrombie’s picks require confirmation by the state Senate.

Acoba was a Circuit Court judge and an associate judge on the Intermediate Court of Appeals before he was named to the Supreme Court in 2000.

Acoba is a 1962 graduate of Farrington High School. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Hawai`i in 1966 and his law degree from Northwestern University Law School in 1969.

After law school, Acoba served as a law clerk to the Chief Justice, in 1970 he joined the University of Hawai`i as special assistant to President Harlan Cleveland, and in 1971 he served as a deputy attorney general.

Acoba lectures at the university’s William S. Richardson School of Law.