Dr. Elliot Hirshman
San Diego State University
Office of the President
Elliot Hirshman started his tenure as the eighth president of San Diego State University in 2011. Hirshman brings a broad foundation of experience to SDSU, which includes a career dedicated to excellence in teaching, research and service. As provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Hirshman was responsible for the delivery of the academic program, enrollment management, and the intercollegiate athletics program. At UMBC, Hirshman also oversaw the campus planning process, working with vice presidents and the Planning Leadership Team to coordinate planning and budgeting for the campus.
In addition to extensive leadership experience in higher education, Hirshman has a strong interdisciplinary background. His research and teaching in psychology focus on the psychopharmacology of human cognition, exploring cognitive and quantitative models of memory, attention and visual perception, and the influence of individual drugs on specific cognitive processes. A fellow of the American Psychological Association, he has served as the associate editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition and Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.
Hirshman is also a fellow of the American Council on Education and his service includes membership on the executive board for the Association of Public & Land-grant Universities Commission on Access, Diversity and Excellence, and the Planning Task Force-Minority Males in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Initiative. Additionally, he has chaired a number of major campus groups, including the University Task Force on Student Evaluation of Teaching at Chapel Hill and the Advisory Council on Research at George Washington.
Academic Experience
President, San Diego State University, 2011 to date.
Provost and Senior Vice President and Professor of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2008-11.
Chief Research Officer, George Washington University, 2005-08.
Chair, Department of Psychology, George Washington University, 2002-05.
Professor of Psychology, George Washington University, 2002-08.
Chair, Department of Psychology, and Professor of Psychology, University of Colorado at Denver, 2000-02.
Professor of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2000.
Special Assistant to the Provost, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
1998-99.
American Council on Education Fellow, Office of the Provost and President, Arizona State University, 1997-98.
Associate Professor of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
1995-2000.
Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
1989-95.
Education
Ph.D., Cognitive Psychology Minor Areas: Personality Psychology,
Quantitative Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
M.A., Cognitive Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
B.A., Economics and Mathematics, Yale University
