James M. Rosser
President, California State University, Los Angeles
Dr. James M. Rosser has served since 1979 as President of California State University, Los Angeles, where he also holds academic appointment as Professor of Health Care Management. He previously has held senior administrative positions in two major universities and one statewide university system.
A native of East St. Louis, Illinois, Dr. Rosser earned academic degrees in health education administration and microbiology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (Ph.D. 1969, M.A. 1963, B.A. 1962).
Prior to his appointment at Cal State L.A., Dr. Rosser served for five years as Vice Chancellor of the State of New Jersey Department of Higher Education, and was appointed Acting Chancellor in 1977.
From 1970 until accepting the New Jersey appointment, he was Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Kansas in Lawrence and a tenured faculty member in pharmacology and toxicology and higher education, while also serving as a member of the Editorial Board of the University Press of Kansas.
From 1967 until 1970, he held several academic and administrative posts at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. From 1963 to 1966 he was a researcher at the Eli Lilly & Company Research Laboratories in Indianapolis.
His background in the field of health care delivery has resulted in a number of related appointments - consultant to the National Institutes of Health's National Heart and Lung Institute, and member of the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners. He has served on the National Board of Governors of the American Red Cross, as a member of the National Advisory Council on Aging, and as a board member of the National Health Foundation. His published works on health, health values, and the health profession include An Analysis of Health Care Delivery, published in 1977 by John Wiley and Sons, co-author H. Mossberg.
Dr. Rosser has written or edited a wide variety of works in the field of higher education administration, including "Strategic Planning and Management: Methodology for Responsible Change" and "Libraries and the Establishment of Academic Strategy in Higher Education," Journal of Library Administration, Vol. 13, No. 3 & 4, 1990. He has also served as a consultant to educational organizations, including the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the Commission on Institutes of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the Educational Testing Service, and the Carnegie Policy Council on Higher Education. Dr. Rosser served as a member and chair of the Education and Human Resources Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation, and currently serves on the Board of Advisors, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions for the U.S. Department of the Air Force and has served as a member and chair of the Action Forum on Diversity in the Engineering Workforce, National Academy of Engineers.
He is active in the American Council on Education, having served on the Commission on Governmental Relations, the Commission on Academic Affairs, the Committee on Confidentiality, National Commission on Higher Education Issues, and its Task Force on Affirmative Action. He also is an active member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Dr. Rosser has served on the California Achievement Council, the California Postsecondary Education Commission's Task Force on Women and Minority Faculty and Staff in Postsecondary Education, and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education's Regional Policy Committee on Minorities in Higher Education. In addition, Dr. Rosser has served on several select committees of the California State University, including the Technology Steering Committee, CalStateTEACH, and chairmanship of the Commission on Telecommunications Infrastructure. He is currently one of CSU's representatives to the California Department of Education Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan.
His community activities include appointments to the boards of directors and/or leadership participation with the Los Angeles Urban League; Music Center Performing Arts Council/Education Council; Edison International; FEDCO, Inc.; United California Bank (formerly Sanwa Bank); Texaco Task Force on Equality and Fairness; LA's Best; the California Chamber of Commerce; the Los Angeles Theatre Center Study Group; the Los Angeles "Coalition of 100"; the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation; Americans for the Arts; the Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project; the Governor's Task Force on Diversity and Outreach, LAAMP/LEARN Regional School Reform Alliance, and the Los Angeles Advisory Alliance of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses; California Community Foundation; Community Television of Southern California (KCET); Los Angeles Philharmonic Association; and Past President of the Los Angeles Area Boy Scouts of America.
Dr. Rosser's honors include the Southern Illinois University Alumni Achievement Award, the Brotherhood Crusade's Pioneer of Black Historical Achievement Award, an Award of Recognition in Education from Involvement for Young Achievers, a City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission Certificate of Merit, the Leadership Award from the Department of Higher Education/Educational Opportunity Fund Program of the State of New Jersey, the Golden State Minority Foundation's 1990 Medal of Excellence, the National Science Foundation's Educator Achievement Award, and the Institute for the Redesign of Learning's 1995 Take Charge of Learning Success. He was an Aspen Scholar for the 1995 Aspen Institute's Executive Seminar, and in the same year received the Education Award of the Watts Foundation Community Trust. Southern Illinois University at Carbondale selected him as a Distinguished Alumnus in November 2000 and awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in May 2003. Most recently, in 2005, he received an honorary doctorate from Pepperdine University.