2026 Outstanding Faculty Service
San José State University
Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Community Learning and Leadership (CCLL)
The focus of my pedagogy, scholarship and service is to develop students as critically minded civic leaders who can participate effectively in a democracy to create a more equitable world. The foundation of my career has been my commitment to service learning and peer education."
For more than 25 years, San José State University psychology professor Elena Klaw has inspired students in the classroom and helped them put their academic knowledge to work addressing problems in the community. As director of the Center for Community Learning and Leadership at San José State for over 13 years, Dr. Klaw has overseen service learning for more than 45,000 students.
Her commitment to connecting students with practical and meaningful experience in the community runs deep. As principal investigator for the SJSU AmeriCorps Fellowship Programs, Dr. Klaw has received and directed over $7 million in federal and state funds to engage more than 900 students in community service work—with stipends. SJSU AmeriCorps Fellows have provided nearly 347,000 hours of service in tutoring, addressing food insecurity and neighborhood development—all while earning money and, in many cases, reducing their student debt.
Dr. Klaw has also developed and directed several innovative peer leadership programs, including the VET Connect Peer Leadership Program, which engages student veterans in the design and implementation of projects to support the military community and provide public education about the challenges facing veterans and their families.
She previously served as chair of the Veterans Advisory Committee, advocating for programs, projects and resources to support student veterans transitioning into college—including the establishment of the SJSU Veterans Resource Center in 2016.
Dr. Klaw has also been involved in violence prevention efforts, including the creation of a campus chapter of Students Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (SDA), as well as the Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) peer leadership program. SAVE involves students in addressing relational violence, ranging from bullying in local schools to dating and domestic abuse. SJSU SAVE peer leaders have conducted 150 workshops to diverse groups in the local community. She developed and directs the Perspectives Peer Leader team, training students in implementing and facilitating constructive dialogue.
She is lead editor on the book “Reframing Community Engagement in Higher Education,” which Governor Gavin Newsom praised for showing “how programs like the College Corps can be replicated across the nation.”
Dr. Klaw is also the recipient of the SJSU Faculty Distinguished Service Award.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.