(March 21, 2018) –The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees has appointed Thomas A. Parham, Ph.D. to serve as president of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). Parham currently serves as vice chancellor, student affairs for the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
"There is no greater blessing in life, next to being a parent, than being entrusted with the intellectual and personal growth and development of students, and I enthusiastically support the CSUDH mission to provide a transformative education to a wonderfully diverse and intellectually engaged student population," said Parham. "This is a time of growth and opportunity for the university and there are many exciting challenges that lay ahead at CSUDH. I am looking forward to being a servant leader and collaborating with faculty, engaging students and staff, and working with alumni and all members of the campus and surrounding community of Los Angeles, the greater South Bay area, and the state of California to fulfill our collective vision for a 21st century comprehensive university. I am honored to be selected to build on the legacy left by those who preceded me in this role."
Parham becomes the eighth permanent president of CSUDH. He will join the campus in his new role in late June. Parham succeeds Willie Hagan who will retire from the university at the end of the 2017-18 academic year.
"Dr. Parham has an exceptional history of working with students from diverse backgrounds and has demonstrated unwavering commitment to student achievement," said CSU Trustee Peter J. Taylor, chair of the CSUDH search committee. "He is deeply connected to the area and is an exceptional choice to build on the foundation laid by Dr. Hagan and to advance the university to the next level."
Most recently, Parham has served as vice chancellor for student affairs at UCI, a role he has held since 2011. During his more than 30-year career at UCI he has also served as an adjunct faculty member and held leadership positions including assistant vice chancellor for Counseling and Health Services, Counseling Center director and director of the Career and Life Planning Center. Prior to joining UCI, he served on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania.
Having grown up in Southern California, Parham earned a bachelor's degree in social ecology from UCI. He earned a master's in counseling psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is licensed to practice psychology in California.
Parham has authored six books and over 45 journal articles and book chapters and is the past president of the National Association of Black Psychologists. He is also a fellow of the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association, a distinguished psychologist in the Association of Black Psychologists, as well as past president of the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development.
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The California State University is the largest system of four-year higher education in the country, with 23 campuses, 50,800 faculty and staff and 484,000 students. Half of the CSU's students transfer from California community colleges. Created in 1960, the mission of the CSU is to provide high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever-changing needs of California. With its commitment to quality, opportunity, and student success, the CSU is renowned for superb teaching, innovative research and for producing job-ready graduates. Each year, the CSU awards more than 110,000 degrees. One in every 20 Americans holding a college degree is a graduate of the CSU and our alumni are 3.4 million strong. Connect with and learn more about the CSU in the CSU NewsCenter.