{"id":23624,"date":"2026-09-23T09:19:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=23624"},"modified":"2026-09-23T15:18:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T01:18:53","slug":"2026-alumni-spotlight-howard-lee-james-b-castle-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/2026-alumni-spotlight-howard-lee-james-b-castle-high\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Spotlight: Howard Lee (James B. Castle High)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Howard Lee<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u02bbOihana: <\/strong>President & CEO of University Health Alliance (UHA) Health Insurance
Kulanui:<\/strong> University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noa
I ke kula hea \u02bboe i puka ai?<\/strong> James B. Castle High School \u201879
Wahi:<\/strong> Honolulu, HI<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past 15 years, K\u0101ne\u02bbohe native Howard Lee has served as president and CEO of UHA Health Insurance, a physician-founded health insurer that provides medical, drug and vision plans to local employer groups and businesses. Having served on numerous nonprofit boards, he is still active in the community serving the Hawai\u2018i Association of Health Plans (director), the March of Dimes Hawai\u2018i Chapter (board member), Mid-Pacific Institute (trustee and Finance & Education Committee), Kapi\u2018olani Health Foundation (board member), a member of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Corporate Directors and the American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities Hawai\u2018i and was recently recognized by Pacific Business News as one of Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s Most Admired Leaders in 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee attended Kapunahala Elementary, Governor S. W. King Intermediate and graduated from James B. Castle High School. He holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in accounting from the University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Pehea kou huaka\u02bbi ma hope o ke kula ki\u02bbeki\u02bbe?<\/strong>
A: <\/strong>I was the first and only child in my family (including parents) to get a four-year degree and attend the University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noa. I then spent time as an audit manager with Coopers & Lybrand, then Magoon Estate Limited and Guenoc Winery as vice president and controller. I joined UHA Health Insurance in 1997 as Chief Financial Officer and served in that role until 2005. I was promoted to chief operating officer in 2003 and then was named executive vice president in 2004. I have been serving as president & CEO of UHA since 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: He aha k\u0101u hana i k\u0113ia mau l\u0101?<\/strong>
A<\/strong>: I am the president and CEO of UHA Health Insurance, and I serve on several nonprofits ranging from education, health and social services. I am happily married and have two kids who are now in their 30s. I have one grandchild that I’m lucky to see daily and am enjoying watching him grow up. I have been very blessed with good health, family, a wonderful career and good friends. I love to travel and experience different cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: No ke aha \u02bboe i koho ai i k\u0113ia ala \u02bboihana a he aha k\u0101u e hau\u02bboli nui ai e pili ana i ia mea?<\/strong>
A: <\/strong>Castle High School had two bookkeeping courses that later inspired me into the accounting profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: He aha ka mea e ho\u02bbohanohano ai i\u0101 \u02bboe?<\/strong>
A: <\/strong>Learning how to get along with people from all walks of life. Knowing that you can achieve your goals and be successful in the public school setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Ke kumuhana punahele ma ke kula?<\/strong>
A:<\/strong> Bookkeeping<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: He aha ke \u02bbano o n\u0101 hana extracurricular \u0101u i komo ai?<\/strong>
A:<\/strong> Football, track and basketball<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: He aha k\u0101u \u02bbaina awakea a \u02bbaina kakahiaka paha ma ke kula punahele?<\/strong>
A<\/strong>: Tacos and tater tots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Inoa o ke kumu a i \u02bbole ka mea a\u02bboa\u02bbo \u0101u e makemake ai e mahalo?<\/strong>
A: <\/strong>My business teacher, Mr. Uyehara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: He aha k\u0101u \u02bb\u014dlelo a\u02bboa\u02bbo no n\u0101 haum\u0101na?<\/strong>
A:<\/strong> Set goals and figure out how to achieve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
James B. Castle High School graduate Howard Lee, second from right, presents a $25,000 donation to Governor Wallace Rider Farrington High School on behalf of UHA Health Insurance to help cover AP exam costs and fund scholarships for students in the Business and Health Academies on July 30, 2025. Photo courtesy: UHA Health Insurance<\/figcaption><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Howard Lee Occupation: President & CEO of University Health Alliance (UHA) Health InsuranceCollege: University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noaWhat school you grad? James B. Castle High School \u201879Location: Honolulu, HI For the past 15 years, K\u0101ne\u02bbohe native Howard Lee has served as president and CEO of UHA Health Insurance, a physician-founded health insurer that provides medical, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":23627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"856,893,1022,1619,1622,1623","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,22,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight","category-hoohaaheo","category-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_post_mime_type":"","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":59,"label":"Alumni Spotlight"},{"value":22,"label":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo"},{"value":21,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Howard-Lee-UHA-1024x512.jpg",1024,512,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Kim Yuen","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/author\/kimberly-yuenk12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":59,"name":"Alumni Spotlight","slug":"alumni-spotlight","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":59,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":22,"count":26,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":59,"category_count":26,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Alumni Spotlight","category_nicename":"alumni-spotlight","category_parent":22},{"term_id":22,"name":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo","slug":"hoohaaheo","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":22,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":99,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":22,"category_count":99,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo","category_nicename":"hoohaaheo","category_parent":0},{"term_id":21,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":388,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":21,"category_count":388,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}