Christian Fern

Christian Fern joined the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly as associate executive director in July 2015 and was elevated to executive director in December 2019. 

UHPA’s board unanimously voted for Fern to lead the union because of his understanding of faculty challenges, legislative advocacy and collective bargaining. Fern’s team of eight works in conjunction with the AFT to collectively serve as the exclusive bargaining representative for nearly 3,300 faculty at all 10 University of Hawai‘i campuses statewide. 

Prior to joining UHPA, Fern worked for Hawai‘i’s two largest health plans, HMSA (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Hawai‘i) and Kaiser Permanente. For 16 years, he worked at HMSA in progressively more responsible roles that led to his position as manager of the Hawaii Employer-Union Trust Fund (EUTF) and federal plan. At Kaiser, he was a manager of large commercial accounts and state and federal plans.

In 2017, Fern was appointed by the governor to serve as an employee trustee of the Employer-Union Trust Fund, which provides medical, chiropractic, prescription drug, dental, vision and life insurance benefits to all eligible government employees. The EUTF covers more than 190,000 active and retired beneficiaries and dependents. Fern currently serves as chair of the EUTF’s investment committee and is a member of its benefits and administrative committees.

Fern is a proud University of Hawai‘i graduate and is grateful for the faculty who helped build a strong foundation for his career. He is now able to give back to the faculty as UHPA’s leader. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and completed the Advanced Labor Studies Program at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.