The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities established the HACU Hall of Champions to honor those who embody the mission of the Association through exemplary efforts “To Champion Hispanic Success in Higher Education.” The 2020 HACU Hall of Champions were Chancellor Joe Garcia and Timothy P. White Ph.D., who were honored on October 26, 2020, during HACU’s 34th Annual Conference.
Dr. Timothy P. White is chancellor of the California State University, the largest and most ethnically and economically diverse system of four-year public higher education in the United States. White leads a university of 23 campuses and a global community of 482,000 students, 53,000 faculty and staff, and 3.8 million alumni.
The seventh chancellor to lead the CSU, White is a champion of inclusive excellence and student achievement. He is a proponent of bringing individualized education to scale through the expansion of evidence-based practices.
White leads the CSU in implementing Graduation Initiative 2025, an ambitious systemwide plan to increase graduation rates, decrease time to degree, and eliminate equity and opportunity gaps for all students by recruiting additional and more diverse faculty, providing increased advising and student-support resources and adding thousands of classes since the initiative’s inception. These efforts are already paying dividends to CSU students from all walks of life, as well as to California, with degree completion rates at all-time highs.
In conjunction with Graduation Initiative 2025, White has worked with community colleges, K-12 school districts and municipal governments to establish promise programs across the state, building pathways for students to attend and complete college. He has also advocated to the state legislature for the expansion of the successful Associate Degree for Transfer program, which allows more Californians a seamless transition from K-12 to college, a CSU degree and beyond.
Under White’s leadership, the CSU continues to expand its positive impact within Hispanic communities in California and nationwide. Twenty-one of the CSU’s 23 campuses qualify as Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and CSU campuses confer more than 60 percent of all bachelor’s degrees earned by California’s Hispanic students. Nationwide, three of the top five institutions for granting bachelor’s degrees to Hispanics are CSU institutions. In addition, White is a committed
advocate for compassionate action on behalf of Dreamers, and for providing those with DACA status no-cost legal support services and a clear path to complete their education, build their future and contribute to the state’s economy. The CSU’s model for the provision of student support and resources to immigrant students has been showcased nationally.
White has spearheaded efforts to increase awareness of federal Title IX rights, sexual assault prevention and alcohol abuse on campus. He has also worked with CSU partners across the state to increase public investment in the university and its worthy academic mission.
Prior to becoming chancellor in 2013, White served as chancellor and professor of biology and biomedical sciences at the University of California, Riverside. White joined UC Riverside in 2008 after serving as president of the University of Idaho from 2004 to 2008 and as dean, provost, executive vice president and interim president at Oregon State University from 1996 to 2004. A product of California’s Master Plan for Higher Education, White pursued his higher education at
Diablo Valley Community College; Fresno State; California State University, East Bay; and the University of California, Berkeley. Like many CSU students and alumni, White was the first in his family to attend college and earn a degree.
White was born in Argentina. He and his parents immigrated to Canada and then to California when he was young. He is married to Dr. Karen White and has four sons.
