Hawaii Pacific University announced this week that it has created the Honorable Linda Lingle Scholarship in Government and Public Policy.

The scholarship is endowed by the former Hawaii governor, her senior cabinet and by more than 20 Hawaii businesses and donors.

“Gov. Lingle is a true visionary and leader,” said HPU President John Y. Gotanda in a press release. “Through her unwavering commitment to service over self, she has helped our communities and people in Hawaii and at HPU in transformative ways.”

Gotanda said the scholarship would help prepare “our next generation of leaders and visionaries in the name of a stellar role model in Gov. Lingle.”

HPU announced the new scholarship at its recent trustees dinner that included presentations by Lingle and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi. Gotanda also announced the gift of Lingle’s papers to HPU from her two-term tenure as governor.

Lingle, a former Maui County mayor and councilwoman, was governor from 2002 to 2010. She also served as a member of the HPU Board of Trustees from 2017 to 2020.

Lingle currently serves as a founding member of the Women’s Prison Project, a coalition of former politicians, business leaders and prison reform advocates. HPU Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer Walsh, a scholar of crime and sentencing policy, is one of the members of the volunteer group.