AASCU President Mildred García to Become the Next Chancellor of the California State University
Contact:
Kellee Edmonds
(202) 478-4662
WASHINGTON, July 12, 2023 — Mildred García, president and CEO of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) has been appointed the 11th chancellor of the California State University, the nation’s largest and most diverse four-year university system.
García has led AASCU since January 2018. During her impressive tenure, García has accomplished significant milestones to better serve AASCU members and their students. She restored the financial health of the organization through strategic leadership, bold decision-making, and vision. Among her myriad accomplishments, she led AASCU in receiving more than $30 million in foundation grants and awards, including a competitive multi-million, multi-year award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of only six awardees of over 250 applicants.
As AASCU’s president, García has advocated tirelessly for public higher education at the national level; worked to influence federal policy and regulations on behalf of member colleges and universities; served as a resource to presidents and chancellors as they addressed state policy and emerging campus issues; developed collaborative partnerships and initiatives that advanced public higher education; directed a strategic agenda that focused on public college and university leadership for the 21st century, and provided professional development opportunities for presidents, chancellors, and their spouses.
“This decision is filled with emotion because our incredible AASCU members and the AASCU staff mean so much to me,” said García. “I am extremely proud of my five years at AASCU as we have made incredible achievements in moving the association forward. This once-in-a- lifetime opportunity to serve as CSU chancellor allows me to continue my deep commitment to serving the new majority of students – low-income, first-generation, and/or students of color –and to expand their access to postsecondary education. I know I stand on the shoulders of higher education pioneers and trailblazers who have shaped me to become the person I am today.”
Just as she was the first Latina to lead one of the six presidentially based higher education associations in Washington, D.C., García becomes the first Latina appointed to lead the CSU.
She begins her tenure at CSU on Oct. 1, 2023.
Read CSU’s press release.
###
The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is a Washington, D.C.-based higher education association of 350 public colleges, universities, and systems whose members share a learning- and teaching-centered culture, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development. These are institutions Delivering America’s Promise.
