J. Luke Wood was appointed the ninth president of California State University, Sacramento. An alumnus of the university, he will take office on July 16.
Also known as Sacramento State University, the educational institution enrolls nearly 30,000 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate students, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up 6 percent of the student body.
“I know what Sac State is capable of doing. I was a Black male, former foster child, and first-generation college student who struggled with food insecurity and housing insecurity and was able to graduate because of the incredible people and systems of support that were in place. If Sac State can do that for me, it can do that for anyone.”
Dr. Wood has been serving as vice president for student affairs and campus diversity and chief diversity officer and the Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Education at San Diego State University. He joined the faculty there in 2011. Dr. Wood is the co-founder of the Journal of African American Males in Education. He is the co-editor of Black Men in College: Implications for HBCUs and Beyond (Routledge, 2012) and Blacks Males in Postsecondary Education: Examining Their Experiences in Diverse Institutional Contexts (Information Age, 2012).
Dr. Wood holds a bachelor’s degree in Black history and politics and a master’s degree in higher education from California State University, Sacramento. He earned a second master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy from Arizona State University.
Congrats to Dr. Wood. I have followed his work for some time. Hope he still has time to do those informative webinars.
Dear Dr. Wood,
Congratulations on your appointment as President of CSU, Sacramento. Your contribution to the higher education of minority students is invaluable. You are a role model to us all.
All best in your new position!