Mary Ann Villarreal has been selected to serve as interim president of California State University, Dominguez Hills. She will begin her new role on January 1.
One of 22 institutions within the California State University (CSU) System, CSU Dominguez Hills enrolls over 12,700 undergraduates and about 2,500 graduate students. Women are 60 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Villarreal’s appointment marks a return to the CSU System. She previously served as a strategic consultant to the system’s chancellor and spent five years at California State University, Fullerton. There, she had stints as director of strategic initiatives and university projects and associate vice president of strategic initiatives.
Most recently, Dr. Villarreal has been serving as vice president for institutional excellence at the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Her other experience in academia includes service as the inaugural vice president for equity, diversity, and inclusion at the University of Utah and associate dean of the Colorado Women’s College, formerly located at the University of Denver. Dr. Villarreal has taught courses in ethnic studies and history at the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Utah.
“I am excited by the opportunity to join CSU Dominguez Hills and the CSU in advancing their vital mission of serving California students in all the breadth and promise they bring,” said Dr. Villarreal. “As one of the most diverse campuses in the CSU system, Dominguez Hills is a vital anchor institution for the community it serves. A beacon of inclusivity, it inspires hope – both for the community and for higher education in California.”
A first-generation college graduate and U.S. Air Force veteran, Dr. Villarreal earned her bachelor’s degree in women’s studies from Mount Holyoke College, a women’s liberal arts institution in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She received her doctorate in history from Arizona State University.