The California State University announced on Wednesday that current Fresno State University President Joseph I. Castro would become the first Mexican-American person to serve as chancellor of the CSU.
Castro, who presided over Fresno State University for seven years, will begin his term as chancellor starting in January 2021. Castro is set to take over this position from Timothy P. White, who has served the CSU system since 2012 and originally announced his retirement in October of 2019. White’s position was extended due to the pandemic.
“I am truly grateful for and excited about this unique and wonderful opportunity, and I look forward to working with the talented faculty, staff and presidents of the 23 campuses as well the Board of Trustees and executives and staff at the Chancellor’s Office to further increase achievement for our 482,000 students,” Castro said in a statement by the CSU.
Prior to his current position at Fresno State University and his new appointment as CSU chancellor, Castro attended UC Berkeley and Stanford, and was the vice chancellor of Student Academic Affairs and professor of family and community medicine at UC San Francisco.
The 23 campuses combine to serve a 41.5% Latino student body. Castro was born and raised in Hanford, south of Fresno, also making him first California native to serve as Chancellor of the CSU.
“This is a great day for the CSU and a thank you to Tim White for his outstanding leadership,” SF State President Lynn Mahoney said in a statement to Xpress.
“Dr. Joseph Castro’s appointment is an affirmation of the CSU’s commitment to inclusive excellence …These are challenging times for our nation and for higher education. The CSU and its students could find no finer leader than Joe Castro,” Mahoney later said in a campus-wide email.
It still has not been revealed who will take the appointment as Fresno State University’s new president.
There is a live broadcast event Friday, Sept. 25, at 11 a.m. to meet Castro as the incoming chancellor.
