HONOLULU -- State senators on Thursday unanimously approved the nomination of Mark Recktenwald to be Hawaii's next Supreme Court Chief Justice.

Full senate approval came after Recktenwald's unanimous approval Wednesday by the Senate Judiciary committee.

Recktenwald was surrounded by family and friends after the senators' vote.

"I am humbled. I am honored and I am grateful at the same time," said Recktenwald.

Recktenwald had been serving as an associate justice on the state Supreme Court since March 2009.

The 54- year-old previously was the chief judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals and before that he served as the director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

Senators said Recktenwald has the executive skills and judicial temperament to run the 1,800 employee state court system..

"I think we can safely say that Judge Recktenwald as Chief Justice will be a beacon for judicial reform in the state of Hawaii," said Sen. Sam Slom (R-Hawaii Kai).

Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian Taniguchi (D) whose committee unanimously approved Recktenwald Wednesday said, "We are entrusting Justice Recktenwald with a great responsibility and I am convinced he will do the job."

Taniguchi said Wednesday he thought Recktenwald a leader of consensus and not try to drive the four other high court justices in a particular direction.

Recktenwald said he comes to leadership of the court system without a personal agenda.

"To me the best thing about the job is the opportunity to bring people together to find better ways of doing things and in our case, that is achieving the mission of providing equal justice," said Recktenwald.

He said his goal is "a judiciary that is fair, impartial, decides cases promptly and is respectful and transparent."

Recktenwald was appointed to a 10-year term.

Gov. Linda Lingle selected Recktenwald after the senate rejected her first nominee, Appeals Court Judge Katherine Leonard. Senators were critical of Leonard saying she lacked the requisite executive skills to lead the courts system.

Recktenwald succeeds Chief Justice Ronald Moon who stepped down this week after reaching the state's 70 year old mandatory retirement age for judges.

Recktenwald will be sworn in as Chief Justice September 14.