Last year Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of Margaret Fortune to the California State University Board of Trustees (BOT). The legislature did not formally take action on her confirmation this month leading toa 38-0 vote in the Senate. Trustee Fortune will now serve her full 8-year term until 2016.

Margaret comes to the CSU with a strong educational background and interest in student achievement. In March 2008 she was named CEO of Project Pipeline, a Sacramento-based nonprofit with a 20-year track record credentialing public school teachers. She served as a senior advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Prior to that, she was superintendent of St. HOPE Public Schools, a Sacramento-based K-12 charter school district serving 1,800 students.

Her experience also includes two years as assistant secretary in the Office of the Secretary for Education, chair of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and service on the California Children and Families Commission.

Fortune holds a baccalaureate degree in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley. She earned her Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

With the confirmation of Trustee Fortune, the CSU will be looking ahead to additional confirmations. Henry Mendoza, who is the Managing Partner of Mendoza Berger & Company, LLP and was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger last year will need to go through this process. Additionally, Governor Schwarzenegger also just appointed this week Linda Lang, the chairman and chief executive officer for Jack in the Box, as well as reappointed William Hauck, president of the Sacramento based California Business Roundtable and BOT member since 1993. All three appointments will need to be confirmed by the legislature in the near future.