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Dr. Stan Fortuna brings to Kamehameha over 30-years of experience in education, 16 of them as a school superintendent in two Michigan districts. He has also served as an elementary principal and director of migrant programs, has taught at the
middle and elementary school levels, and has extensive fiscal and school construction background.
As superintendent of the Oakridge Public Schools in Muskegon, Michigan, Dr. Fortuna built a new high school and other facilities, increased the district fund balance from near zero to 28 percent of budget, obtained approval for a major bond issue, and developed a deferred leave program for faculty that was cited as a first in the United States by Education Week.
Dr. Fortuna holds a doctorate and master’s degree, both with honors, from Western Michigan University, and his bachelor’s degree is from Aquinas College. He received his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1984, and an N.E.H. fellowship from Harvard University. Dr. Fortuna was previously active on the mainland as president of the Superintendents’ Association, a member of the board of directors of United Way, as an officer of the Lions Club and was instrumental in forming the Drug and Alcohol Citizens’ Coalition in Caledonia, Michigan. On arriving on the Big Island, he has continued his community involvement with the Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary, the Portuguese and Japanese Chambers of Commerce and the Chinese Civic Association.
Dr. Fortuna is an avid adventure racer, and has successfully completed the Vermont 100-mile ultra-marathon in July 2000 as well as the Saddle Road Run from Waimea to Hilo in May 2002. He has four grown children who currently reside on the mainland; his wife Nancy holds a master’s degree and is an elementary faculty member with the Kamehameha Schools. | 