Mildred Garcia was appointed president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, effective January 22, 2018. The association, based in Washington, D.C., has 400 member institutions. The organization states that its members share a “learning- and teaching-centered culture, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development.”
Since 2012, Dr. Garcia has been president of California State University, Fullerton. Previously, she was president of California State University, Dominguez Hills and CEO of Berkeley College, which operates campuses in the New York City metropolitan area.
In accepting her new appointment, Dr. Garcia stated: “I am deeply honored, humbled and excited to lead AASCU, an organization that represents students from all walks of life at 400 state colleges and universities. Cal State Fullerton is one of those universities, and my experience working alongside its incredible faculty, staff and students corroborates what all the recent research shows: State colleges and universities are the preeminent paths to upward mobility in this country, and it is a privilege to now represent so many diverse and academically excellent institutions.”
President Garcia is a native of Brooklyn, New York. Her parents immigrated to New York from Puerto Rico. She worked as a secretary to put herself through college, earning a bachelor’s degree in business education from Baruch College of the City University of New York System. She holds master’s degrees from New York University and Columbia University and an educational doctorate from Teachers College at Columbia.