Judy K. Sakaki
Judy K Sakaki | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | University President |
Judy K. Sakaki (born c. 1950) is president of Sonoma State University (SSU). She spent most of her previous academic career as a student affairs administrator in the University of California system. She is the first Japanese American woman to head a four-year college or university in the United States, and the second woman to serve as president of SSU. [1]
Early life
Sakaki's maternal grandparents, her mother and her uncle were held in the Topaz Internment Camp in Delta, Utah during World War II. Although she was not born until well after the end of World War II, she was deeply moved by stories of her family's experiences in the camps.[2]
Career in higher education
Growing up in the multicultural neighborhoods of Oakland, California in the 1970s, Sakaki was a first-generation college student. She earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in Human Development and an M.A. in Educational Psychology from California State University, East Bay and a Ph.D. in Education from University of California, Berkeley.[3]
Prior to SSU, Sakaki served as vice president for student affairs for the University of California system. In 2009 Sakaki co-chaired a task force to award honorary degrees to approximately 700 Japanese American UC students who were unable to complete their degrees due to their internment during World War II.[4]
Following the SSU presidency of Ruben Armiñana, who emphasized capital projects including the $145 million Green Music Center, Sakaki made Armiñana's administrative team step down. She then recruited retiring administrators from the UC system until permanent staff could be appointed. Sakaki shifted her focus to students and faculty, attracting one description of a "breath of fresh air."[5]
Sakaki is a former American Council on Education fellow, and an executive fellow of the California State University.
References
- ^ Meg Mcconahey, "Daring new president shifts focus to getting students, faculty to dream big," The Press Democrat, December 4, 2016, pp. A1, A14-A15.
- ^ Meg Mcconahey, "Daring new president shifts focus to getting students, faculty to dream big," The Press Democrat, December 4, 2016, pp. A1.
- ^ Meg Mcconahey, "Daring new president shifts focus to getting students, faculty to dream big," The Press Democrat, December 4, 2016, pp. A1, A14-A15.
- ^ 'Biography: Judith K. Sakaki." The Californiia State University, November 18, 2016.
- ^ Meg Mcconahey, " Daring new president shifts focus to getting students, faculty to dream big," The Press Democrat, December 4, 2016, pp. A1, A14.