Two Koolauloa women play prominently in recent Brigham Young University Hawaii executive actions:

Former Laie resident Dr. Debbie Hippolite Wright, LCSW, Ph.D., [pictured at left] has been named Vice President for Student Development and Services at BYUH, effective July 7; and…

BYUH Vice President of University Advancement V. Napua Baker of Laie [pictured at right] retired at the end of June.

Dr. Debbie Hippolite Wright

Hippolite Wright, who is of Maori-Caucasian descent and is originally from New Zealand, came to Laie shortly after graduating from the Church College of New Zealand to attend BYU-Hawaii, where she graduated in social work in 1979. She also worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center during that time. After serving an Latter-day Saint mission in the Philippines-Davao adn earning a master's in social work at BYU in Provo, then working professionally for several years, she joined the BYUH faculty in 1990. In 1999 she earned her Ph.D. degree from the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand, and is widely known for her work in the Pacific islands, Asia and Eastern Europe.

After being at BYU-Hawaii for 17 years, including serving as social work department chairperson, Hippolite Wright and her family moved to West Valley, Utah, where she has been working as an LDS Family Services Clinical Supervisor. She said she and her family are delighted to be moving back to Laie.

Hippolite Wright was named to the BYU-Hawaii VP position as part of a reorganization at the university. With some differences, she essentially succeeds Isileli Kongaika who, after serving as Vice President of Student Affairs for the past 12 years, indicated he would step down at the start of the reorganization process. Kongaika will join the faculty.

With Hippolite Wright appointment as a vice president, she continues a tradition that started at BYU-Hawaii when Napua Baker was named the first female as well as the first Hawaiian and Polynesian vice president in the Church Educational System in 1992. For more information on Hippolite Wright…

Napua Kalama Baker

Baker, who served at BYU-Hawaii for 27 years — the last 17 as Vice President of University Advancement — has brought a strong measure of aloha spirit to her work with community, state and international relations.

Originally from Molokai, Baker enrolled at the Church College of Hawaii in 1959, went on to graduate from BYU in Provo and returned to teach school at Hauula Elementary for five years before taking time off to be a mom. It was during that time she purchased her great-grandparents home on Lanihuli St. in Laie where the extended family recently met for a reunion.

She returned to Provo for graduate education and worked in Continuing Education there until she was hired for similar duties at BYU-Hawaii in 1983. Four years later then-BYUH President Alton Wade asked her to take over University Relations. "I told him no," she recalled, but President Wade didn't accept the answer. In 1992 he named her the first Hawaiian and Polynesian vice president in the Church Educational System.

Baker announced her pending retirement at the outset of the BYU-Hawaii reorganization process. Her responsibilities have been divided among other executive leaders.

Baker, who has faced health challenges over the years, said she's focusing the next several months on family and taking care of herself, then she hopes to serve a Latter-day Saint proselyting mission. Read more about Baker…

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