Campus: Office of the Chancellor -- March 06, 2001 Richard Rush Named President Of CSU Channel Islands The California State University Board of Trustees appointed Richard Rush, president of Minnesota State University at Mankato, as president of CSU Channel Islands. "Richard Rush is a visionary, energetic leader with the experience and enthusiasm to lead California State University, Channel Islands in the next critical stage of its development," said William D. (Denny) Campbell, CSU Trustee and chair of the selection committee. "His leadership abilities will be a tremendous asset to the campus and the community." Rush has served in his present position since 1992. Prior to that, he served as executive vice president at CSU San Marcos when it was founded in 1989. He was dean and director of the San Diego State University North County campus from 1984-89. "It is very exciting for me to be returning to the California State University, where I spent most of my academic career," said Rush. "There are challenges ahead, but I look forward to working with the university faculty and staff and the local community to make Channel Islands the newest star in the CSU system. I am honored to have been selected as the president." The search process began in November 2000, and about 60 individuals submitted applications. Rush will succeed J. Handel Evans, who has served as the university's planning president since 1996. Rush will begin his new duties in June, and his compensation will be set at the March 21 CSU Trustees meeting. Channel Islands is the newest CSU campus and will begin accepting students as a full university in the fall of 2002. It is located at the site of the former Camarillo State Hospital. Channel Islands is currently managed under the auspices of CSU Northridge, and is the largest off-campus center in the CSU system. Enrollment includes more than 1,800 students from Ventura, Santa Barbara, and surrounding counties. The immediate responsibilities of the incoming president will be hiring the first Channel Islands faculty and administrators, and continuing the physical development of the campus. Rush served on the faculty at San Diego State from 1971-77, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Business Officers. He earned a B.A. in classics, English and philosophy at Gonzaga University, and an M.A. in English literature and a Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature from UCLA. The California State University is the largest four-year university system in the country. More than 21,000 faculty teach 370,000 students on 23 CSU campuses and six off-campus centers extending from Humboldt County in the north to San Diego in the south. Altogether, about half the bachelor's degrees and a third of the master's degrees awarded in California are from the CSU.