(Carson, Ca.) – During his annual University Convocation address to the campus community on Sept. 26, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) President Willie J. Hagan announced that he will retire at the end of the 2017-18 academic year.
“It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career to serve as president of this great institution. I am very proud of the accomplishments this community has achieved over the past five years,” said Hagan. “Together we have strengthened the university on all fronts – student success, advancement, academics, and facilities. We have set in motion initiatives that will have a long-lasting impact on the future of this university. I am confident that this community will carry on the good work we started together.”
The 10th president of California State University, Dominguez Hills, Hagan was named interim president in June 2012 and was permanently appointed by the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees in May 2013.
“President Hagan has provided innovative and steady leadership, and has diligently worked to improve the quality of CSUDH’s academic programs and the campus’ facilities,” said CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White. “During his inspiring tenure, graduation rates at CSUDH have increased at some of the highest levels of any CSU campus. Student success is a wonderful legacy and testament to his career-long dedication to providing students with transformative opportunities.”
Hagan’s presidency has been marked by an unwavering commitment to student academic achievement. Through expanded student support services that have garnered national attention, the implementation of proven high-impact student success initiatives, facilities and infrastructure upgrades, and a multi-year tenure/tenure-track faculty hiring plan, student graduation rates and time to degree have significantly risen at CSUDH over the last five years, and the university has experienced unprecedented enrollments.
Under Hagan’s leadership, CSUDH received numerous accolades, including a top 15 master’s degree-granting ranking for contribution to public good; the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll President’s Award, which is the highest honor given by the federal government for a university’s commitment to serving the community; and recognition at the national level that a degree from CSUDH improves the upward mobility of its graduates.
With his forward-thinking vision for the university, Hagan also set plans in place for campus growth and sustained financial stability. This year, CSUDH begins construction of its Science and Innovation Building, a modern instructional facility that will house active learning classrooms and collaborative spaces, state-of-the-art research labs, and a center dedicated to K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. Additionally, plans are moving forward on new student housing and a cutting-edge educational facility that will also house the College of Business Administration and Public Policy.
The university also embarked on an ambitious revision of the campus facilities master plan. Currently under review, the plan envisions expanding the academic core of the campus over the next 15 years to accommodate enrollment growth, and a retail-residential campus village development that would generate additional revenue to support CSUDH’s academic mission and fundamentally transform the campus and the neighboring community.
Prior to his appointment to CSUDH, Hagan served as interim president at CSU Fullerton. He joined CSU Fullerton in 1996 as the vice president for administration, and later held positions as interim vice president for university advancement and chief financial officer. He served as associate vice president for administration at the University of Connecticut and was a lobbyist for the University of Connecticut and the Connecticut Board of Governors for Higher Education at the state and federal level. Hagan also led U.S. political delegations to London and Taiwan as a member of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, a bipartisan, nonprofit educational exchange organization dedicated to fostering relations between the next generation of political leaders in the United States and their international counterparts.
Hagan holds a doctorate in psychology from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Fine Arts from UCLA.
The CSU will conduct a national search for Hagan’s successor in the coming months.
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About California State University, Dominguez Hills
California State University, Dominguez Hills, centrally located in the greater Los Angeles South Bay region, is a model urban university with a wide range of academic programming, providing accessible, high quality, and transformative education to students aspiring to succeed and thrive in a complex, global society. Since 1960, CSU Dominguez Hills has served a diverse community of learners and educators collaborating to change lives and communities for the better. A national model and laboratory for student success, the university offers a proven path to opportunity and social equity, advancing a college-focused culture in the communities it serves while providing vital resources of knowledge, talent, and leadership to the greater Los Angeles region and beyond.
Today, CSU Dominguez Hills boasts over 100,000 alumni – doctors, scientists, engineers, educators, entrepreneurs – who are leaders in education, health, technology, entertainment, public service, and business, making a difference in their fields, in people’s lives, and in their communities. For more information, visit www.csudh.edu.
