Hawaii Pacific University

Hawaiʻi Pacific University (HPU) is a private university in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, United States. Oceanic Institute of HPU, an aquaculture research facility, is located at Makapuʻu Point. HPU is also present on military installations on the island of Oʻahu.

HPU was founded in 1965 as Hawaiʻi Pacific College by Paul C.T. Loo, Eureka Forbes, Elizabeth W. Kellerman, and Reverend Edmond Walker. Wanting a private liberal arts college in Honolulu, the four applied for a charter of incorporation for a not-for-profit corporation to be called Hawaiʻi Pacific College. The state of Hawaiʻi granted a charter of incorporation to Hawaiʻi Pacific on September 17, 1965.

In September 1966, Honolulu Christian College, established in 1949, merged into Hawaiʻi Pacific College, and a new charter was granted by the state of Hawaiʻi. In 1967, James L. Meader became Hawaiʻi Pacific College's first president. Meader, in consultation with community leaders, developed a comprehensive educational program.

When Meader retired in 1968, the board of trustees elected George A. Warmer as Hawaiʻi Pacific's second president. During Warmer's tenure, the college implemented academic programs in the liberal arts and cooperative education.

In 1972, Hawaiʻi Pacific College graduated seven students in its first commencement class and in the same year established a School of Business Administration. Chatt G. Wright became the founding dean of Hawaiʻi Pacific's new School of Business Administration. The following year, the college received full accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The following years saw the creation of the English Foundations Program, offering instruction to non-native speakers of English, and the Division of Special Programs, administering off-campus instruction on various military installations on Oʻahu.

Warmer retired in 1976 and Chatt G. Wright became Hawaiʻi Pacific's third president. During his time in office, Hawaiʻi Pacific continued to expand and develop through the 1980s. Hawaiʻi Pacific launched a Master of Business Administration program in 1986, a Master of Science in Information Systems program in 1989, and a Master of Arts in Human Resource Management in 1991.

Hawaiʻi Pacific became Hawaiʻi Pacific University (HPU) in 1990. Two years later, Hawaiʻi Loa College, a small, independent, liberal arts college on the windward side of Oʻahu, merged into Hawaiʻi Pacific University.

In 2004, the HPU International Vocal Ensemble made their Carnegie Hall debut where they performed Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna and O Magnum Mysterium.