Commencement Speaker
Her Excellency Hilda C. Heine, Ed.D.
President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

President Hilda C. Heine is one of the three women elected to the Nitijela following the November 2015 general elections representing Aur Atoll for a term of four years. She previously served as the Minister of Education in the administration of former President Christopher J. Loeak.

Prior to entering politics, President Heine was the Program Director of Pacific Comprehensive Assistance Center at the Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) in Majuro from 2006 to 2011 and Director of Policy and Capacity Building and Scholar of FAS Education, consecutively, for PREL and based in Honolulu from 1995 to 2006. Before relocating to the State of Hawai' i, President Heine served the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands starting as a classroom teacher, school counselor, school administrator, college President before being named as Secretary of Education.

During her tenure as President of the College of the Marshall Islands and as Secretary of Education, President Heine supervised the transformation of the College from a continuing education program into a fully operational community college. President Heine currently serves as an advisor, officer and member of multiple taskforces, committees, and working groups. As Minister of Education, President Heine headed the RMI Teacher Standards and Licensing Board and Chaired the Human Resources in Health Task Force. President Heine was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the College of the
Marshall Islands.

President Heine was born on Jaluit Atoll to Reverend Bourne and Kathy Heine in 1951 where she grew up and attended a public school and moved to Majuro to pursue her secondary level education at the Marshall Islands High School. Following high school studies, President Heine attended school in the United States where she earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon in 1970, a master's degree at the University of Hawaii in 1975, and an Educational Doctorate at the University of Southern California in 2004. President Heine and her Husband, Thomas Kijiner Jr., have 3 children and 5
grandchildren, and both live in Majuro. President Heine co-authored a number of publications and reports and reads historical and contemporary writings with special emphasis on education and social administrations in small islands developing states.