Stephen Perez (born 1967) is an American academic and university administrator. He is the 13th and current president of

California State University, Chico California State University, Chico (Chico State) is a public university in Chico, California. It was founded in 1887 as one of about 180 "normal schools" founded by state governments in the 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing ...

, and was formerly an interim president of

San José State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State Universit ...

Education and early career

Perez graduated with a BA in economics from the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

before earning his MA and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in economics from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

in 1994. He briefly taught economics at

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...

and

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

before becoming a faculty member of

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

in 2001. At Sacramento State, he specialized in

labor economics Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the markets for wage labour. Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding firms. Because these labourers exist as pa ...

and sports economics and served as an assistant to the president for special projects, faculty athletics representative, and interim provost before being promoted to provost and vice president of academic affairs in the fall of 2019.

Career

San Jose State University Presidency

On November 22, 2021

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

Chancellor Joseph I. Castro appointed Perez to serve as the interim president of

after Mary Papazian, the previous president, announced that she would be resigning on December 21, 2021, in the aftermath of a sex abuse scandal. Perez assumed the office on January 3, 2022. Throughout his term as interim president, he worked to increase university enrollment and diversity. His term ended on January 16, 2023, when

Cynthia Teniente-Matson Cynthia Teniente-Matson (born 1965) is the 32nd and current president of San Jose State University, San José State University and the former president of Texas A&M University–San Antonio. Born in San Antonio, Teniente-Matson spent her adolesce ...

assumed the office.

California State University, Chico Presidency

Six days prior to the end of his term at San Jose State, it was announced that Perez would be joining

as an interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. Perez would serve in this role through the end of the 2022–23 school year when on May 24, 2023, Chico State announced that Perez would become the school's president for the following school year. Perez assumed the office on July 1, 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez_Stephen Presidents of San Jose State University California State University, Chico California State University, Sacramento faculty University of California, San Diego alumni University of California, Davis alumni Living people 1967 births