Jeri Echeverria
Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer
The California State University
Dr. Echeverria joined the Chancellor's Office in February, 2009, assuming the duties of Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer on July 1. In 1988 she joined the Department of History at Fresno State and has served as Chair of the History Department, as Associate Dean of the College of Social Sciences, and as Associate Provost before being appointed Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in February 2004.
A native Californian born to Basque immigrants, Echeverria grew up on a sheep ranch in Southern California. She earned her bachelor's degree in History and Humanities at the University of California, Irvine, and completed her doctorate in History at the University of North Texas. An expert on Basque settlement in the American West, her publications include: Home Away from Home: A History of Basque Boarding Houses; Portraits of Basques in the New World; and Home Off the Range: Basque Hotels in America. Echeverria also has published numerous articles on Basques and is frequently invited to speak on related topics.
As Provost at Fresno State, Dr. Echeverria has played a leadership role in strategic and academic planning, expanding graduate and joint doctoral programs, supporting student success initiatives, addressing gender and equity issues and diversity hiring, planning for instructional technology, and developing systems to expand grant and contract activity.