Walt Jacobs, Ph.D., named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dear Cal State East Bay community,

I am pleased to announce that Walt Jacobs, Ph.D., has accepted the position of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Cal State East Bay. He will begin his new post July 1, 2022.

Dr. Jacobs joins us from our neighboring CSU campus, San José State University, where he has served as the dean of the College of Social Sciences since 2015.

During the interview process, I was impressed by Dr. Jacobs’ strong commitment to student success, his collaborative approach, and his personal dedication to diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. He has demonstrated success expanding and improving academic advising, high-impact practices, and research activities. 

Prior to his arrival in California, he was the founding dean of the College of Social Sciences and Professional Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Earlier, Dr. Jacobs was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities for 14 years, including five years as chair of the department of African American & African Studies. 

He received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from Indiana University-Bloomington.

The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs is an extremely important role that oversees the overall academic mission for the university. Please join me in thanking these members of the search committee for their diligent efforts to recruit Dr. Jacobs to Cal State East Bay: Suzanne Espinosa (chair), Eric Fricke, Julie Glass, Denise Johnson, David Larson, Mima Maamou, Carlos Salomon, Jennifer Sherwood and Jiannan Wang. 

I am grateful to Interim Provost Kimberly Greer for joining the Cal State East Bay community this last year as we transitioned back to in-person instruction. She will continue to lead Academic Affairs through the end of June.

With warm regards, 

Cathy Sandeen
President

February 17, 2022