Healani Chang president-elect of premiere national society for diversity in STEM

Healani Chang

Recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), Healani Chang, a University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa research specialist, will serve a four-year commitment and lead the influential organization that supports diversity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. She will be the organization’s 7th woman to serve as president. SACNAS hosts the nation’s largest diversity in STEM conference each year and positively affects the career trajectories of thousands of underrepresented students and professionals.  

“I’m honored and excited to represent Hawaiʻi and UH at a national level with an organization that works toward inclusive excellence in STEM,” said Chang, who has been a faculty member at UH Mānoa since 1982 with appointments in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center, now in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology; John A. Burns School of Medicine; and Center for Teaching Excellence. 

Chang earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from UH Mānoa, with expertise in public health and Indigenous health systems, and has long focused on improving health disparities, including diabetes and heart disease, and access to academic and career pathways among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders. Over time, she has served in leadership, advisory, and in collaborative principal investigator roles for research and student support programs.

Currently, with the aim of increasing the number of underrepresented, wāhine (women) faculty in the STEM fields, Chang is a co-investigator on the ADVANCE Catalyst project at UH Mānoa funded by the National Science Foundation. The goal of the project is a campus self-assessment to understand the professional and intersectional experiences of STEM na wāhine and other underrepresented and minoritized professionals, and laying the groundwork for a larger institutional transformation strategy in diversity and gender equity. 

“I gained inspiration to submit a package seeking the SACNAS nomination and a national leadership role from the shared lived experiences and campus data collected by our team with the NSF ADVANCE Catalyst grant,” said Chang. “It shows that structural and racial barriers exist that hinder advancement in the highly valued STEM workforce. I want to move policy changes and practice forward so future STEM professionals know that UH welcomes diverse perspectives and skill sets.” 

“We are proud to have Healani in this leadership role,” said Chip Fletcher, interim Dean of SOEST.  “As a graduate of the UH Mānoa education system, and now a senior mentor for our current students and employees, Healani represents yet another sign post that we place high value on Indigenous perspectives, and the viewpoints of our own graduates.”  

About SACNAS
For 50 years, SACNAS has served as an inclusive organization dedicated to fostering the success of Chicano/Hispanics & Native Americans, from college students to professionals, in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership within STEM. SACNAS influences the STEM diversity movement through STEM outreach and advocacy, the promotion of STEM leaders, and the SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference.

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