Jane Close Conoley, who served as UCR’s interim chancellor from Dec. 2012 to Aug. 2013 and is the current dean of UC Santa Barbara’s Gervitz School of Education, has been named the seventh president of Cal State Long Beach by the California State University Board of Trustees. Conoley will be the first woman to assume the position in CSU Long Beach’s 65-year history when she takes the post in July.
Jane Close Conoley, who served as UCR’s interim chancellor from Dec. 2012 to Aug. 2013 and is the current dean of UC Santa Barbara’s Gervitz School of Education, has been named the seventh president of Cal State Long Beach by the California State University Board of Trustees. Conoley will be the first woman to assume the position in CSU Long Beach’s 65-year history when she takes the post in July.
Conoley has pledged to improve CSULB’s fundraising, focus on faculty retention and morale, and emphasize the college’s humanities programs. Previously, when she was interim chancellor at UCR, Conoley created the Campus Safety Task Force to determine solutions to the uptick in crime and advocated for more funding for UCR’s School of Medicine.
“Cal State Long Beach is renowned for its quality, diversity and global mission and it is an honor to be selected as the university’s next president,” said Conoley. “This is a vibrant university that plays a key role in Southern California, and I embrace the opportunity to work with the outstanding students, faculty, staff and Long Beach community to reach even greater heights.”
Conoley will replace CSU Long Beach interim president Donald J. Para, who has served in the position since May 2013. Para himself was appointed by CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White to replace former president F. King Alexander. Para called Conoley “another in the line of outstanding presidents at Cal State Long Beach.”
White was previously the chancellor of UCR from 2008 to 2012, and his departure for the chancellorship of the CSU system led to Conoley’s appointment as interim chancellor.
