The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees is beginning the search for the next regularly appointed president of California State University, Fullerton. Serving a population of almost 40,000 students, Cal State Fullerton is the largest university in the system.
The first meeting of the Trustees' Committee for the Selection of the President will be held in a hybrid in-person/virtual open forum from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 6, at the Meng Concert Hall on campus. During this time, the committee will outline the search process and the community will be invited to share their preferred attributes of the next president of Cal State Fullerton.
Please note that campus and community members wishing to address the committee through the virtual option are required to register in advance on the President Search website. The deadline to register to speak remotely during the open forum is Monday, February 5 at 5:00 p.m. Confirmed registrants will receive details about how to participate. The virtual open forum will be web-streamed live and archived on the search website. Individuals may also provide written submission via the site.
CSU Trustee Jack McGrory will chair the committee. The other trustee members include Mark Ghilarducci, Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, Trustee Chair Wenda Fong and CSU Chancellor Mildred García.
Board policy requires the chair of the CSU trustees to appoint an Advisory Committee to the Trustees' Committee. The Advisory Committee is composed of representatives from the faculty, staff, students and alumni, as well as a member of a campus advisory board, all of whom are selected by the campus's constituency groups. Also on the Advisory Committee is a vice president or academic dean from the campus, and a president of another CSU campus—both selected by the chancellor. Both committees function as one unified group.
Members of the Advisory Committee for the Selection of the President include:
- Catherine Brennan, Ph.D., associate professor, Biological Sciences, and Alexandro José Gradilla, Ph.D., associate professor, Chicana and Chicano Studies (faculty representatives)
- Matthew Jarvis, Ph.D., chair, Academic Senate
- Elaine Dixon (staff representative)
- Maysem Awadalla and Gavin Ong (student representatives)
- Nicholas Andrew Cabeza (alumni representative)
- Jon Smith (CSUF Philanthropic Foundation board representative)
- Lisa Kirtman, Ph.D., dean, College of Education (administration representative)
- Ajá Reneé Clarke and Tam T. Nguyen (community representatives)
- Jane Close Conoley, Ph.D., president, California State University, Long Beach
Over the next several months, the committee will review candidates and conduct interviews.
Dr. Sylvia A. Alva currently serves as interim president following the retirement of Mr. Framroze Virjee in July 2023 after five years as Cal State Fullerton's president. Alva will continue to serve as interim president while the national search is conducted.
About the California State University
The California State University is the nation's largest four-year public university system, providing transformational opportunities for upward mobility to more than 450,000 students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. More than half of CSU students are people of color, and nearly one-third of them are first-generation college students. Because the CSU's 23 universities provide a high-quality education at an incredible value, they are rated among the best in the nation for promoting social mobility in national college rankings from U.S. News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal and Washington Monthly. The CSU powers California and the nation, sending nearly 127,000 career-ready graduates into the workforce each year. In fact, one in every 20 Americans holding a college degree earned it at the CSU. Connect with and learn more about the CSU in the CSU newsroom.