Sara Young Jackson Named Chancellor of Pepperdine University

Sara Young Jackson has been named chancellor of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. She will assume her duties on August 1, 2019.

Pepperdine University, a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, enrolls about 3,600 undergraduate students and more than 4,000 graduate students, according to the latest data supplied to the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 59 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Jackson has held numerous leadership roles at Pepperdine over the past 40 years. Her career at the university began in 1979 when she was named assistant director of student life. Soon after, she was promoted to the director position. During her tenure, she has also served as founding director of the Pepperdine Volunteer Center and as executive director of the Center for the Family in the Graduate School of Education. Additionally, she established the Women in Leadership Institute at Pepperdine, a development program that nurtures the career and spiritual development of young women leaders at the university through mentorship and fellowship.

Most recently, Jackson has served as vice chancellor, a role she has held since 2004. In this role, he promotes and advances the progress of the university through major-gift fundraising. In this capacity, she sits on the University Board, manages the Seaver College Board of Visitors, and acts as the liaison for the student life committee of the Board of Regents.

“I am truly thrilled to be offered this appointment by President-elect Gash,” said Jackson. “After many years of investment in this beloved community, I can’t think of anything more meaningful than joining the leadership team as we launch expectantly the next chapter of Pepperdine.”

Jackson is a graduate of Pepperdine University where she majored in English. She holds a master’s degree in theology with an emphasis in marriage and family counseling from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.