Former Honolulu resident Carolynn "Carrie" Hyun, who served as deputy chief of staff to former U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, died July 5 in Chicago of cancer. She was 44.

Hyun was among the highest-ranking appointees from Hawai'i in the Clinton administration. From December 1998 to October 1999 she served as deputy chief of staff in the U.S. Department of Transportation, responsible for strategic communication and crisis and policy management.

Born in San Francisco, Hyun was raised in Manoa and is an alumna of Punahou School and the University of California, Berkeley.

From 1989 to 1997, she was a spokeswoman for GTE in Hawai'i and in the GTE corporate offices. While at GTE Hawaiian Telephone, Hyun worked on the company's response to Hurricane Iniki in 1992 and on the rollout of the company's telephone book recycling campaign.

Hyun was the co-chair of Korean Americans for Hillary during Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. In 2004, Hyun was the press secretary for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in northeast Pennsylvania.

She is survived by brother Arthur Hyun of New York and nephew Max Hyun.

Funeral services are private.