September 23, 2020
Joseph I. Castro confirmed as chancellor of CSU System
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities applauds the Board of Trustees of The California State University System for appointing Joseph I. Castro, Ph.D., to serve as the next chancellor of the California State University system, effective January 4, 2021.
Castro becomes the first California native Mexican American appointed to lead the largest and most diverse four-year public system of higher education in the nation. The CSU System is made up of 23 campuses across the state of California and enrolls the largest number of Latinos in baccalaureate and higher-level degrees in the United States. He succeeds Chancellor Timothy P. White, who announced his retirement from the position last fall.
Castro is currently the president of California State University, Fresno, a HACU-member institution. He has served as president of CSU Fresno since 2013. In addition to Castro’s extensive background in higher education, he is a member of HACU’s Governing Board and serves as chair of the USDA-HACU Leadership Group. He served as a member of the steering committee of HACU’s Leadership Academy/La Academia de Liderazgo, a one-year program to prepare the next generation of culturally diverse leaders for executive and senior level positions in higher education.
"Dr. Castro is a proven leader and champion of student success, who has mentored countless other leaders throughout his career,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. “We are confident he will continue to lead with great success and serve as an inspiration to the diverse CSU population. We congratulate him on being selected to serve as chancellor of the California State University System."
Prior to his appointment as president in 2013, he served in various roles for 23 years in the University of California system. He was vice chancellor of student academic affairs and professor of family and community medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
The grandson of immigrants from Mexico, and the first in his family to graduate from a university, Castro earned a doctorate in higher education policy and leadership from Stanford University, a master’s degree in public policy and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.