Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval appointed as the new president of Fresno State by CSU board
Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval was appointed president of Fresno State by the California State University board on Wednesday morning, replacing Joseph I. Castro, who left the university to become chancellor in January.
Jiménez-Sandoval has been leading the university as the interim president since Jan. 4, and before that was its provost and vice president of Academic Affairs. He’s been at Fresno State for two decades, also serving as a professor of Spanish and Portuguese and the coordinator of the Spanish Master of Arts and chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures.
“It is an honor to be chosen to lead this premier university, which opens doors of opportunities for our talented students and improves the quality of life for everyone in the Valley,” he said after his appointment on Wednesday, which takes effect immediately. “I look forward to working together with our dynamic faculty, committed staff, talented students and innovative community partners to increase the life-changing opportunities that a Fresno State education provides.”
Jiménez-Sandoval arrived in the central San Joaquin Valley from Mexico when he was 10 years old and worked at his father’s small farm, according to his Fresno State biography. He graduated as an honors student from Fowler High School and earned dual bachelor’s degrees in History and Spanish and a master’s and doctorate in Spanish literatures at UC Irvine.
He also has professional certificates in critical theory from Cornell University in Spanish art history from Escuela de Arte y Antigüedades de Madrid and in Portuguese language and culture from Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal.
He serves on several boards, including the Mountain West Conference, University High Board of Directors, and the California Teaching Fellows Foundation.
The search for the next president was set to take between six months and a year, university officials estimated.
Castro congratulated Jiménez-Sandoval at Wednesday’s meeting and said the university and CSU would “long benefit from the breadth and depth of his experience and expertise.”
“A poet by nature, Saúl has a keen and demonstrated knowledge of innovative and proven student success measures,” Castro said. “He is a champion of excellence equity and inclusion with a deep appreciation of the transformative power of higher education.”
Trustees approved Jiménez-Sandoval’s salary at $348,423, the same salary Castro earned at Fresno State before he was named chancellor.
Jiménez-Sandoval will live in the official university house, and he will also receive a monthly auto allowance of $1,000 and standard benefits.
CSU Trustee Jane Carney, who was chair of the Fresno State search committee, said Jiménez-Sandoval “has an exciting vision for the future of the university while having gained immeasurable institutional knowledge and developed outstanding relationships throughout the campus and community over his many years of service to Fresno State.”
Jiménez-Sandoval takes the reins of the university during a transitional time, according to Castro. The university plans to offer more in-person courses than it has during the pandemic, but there are still no plans to return to normal pre-pandemic offerings.
The CSU announced in recent weeks that it would require anyone on campus this fall to get a COVID-19 vaccination, as long as one has been FDA-approved by then.
Fresno State saw record enrollment in 2020, even as overall CSU applications slightly declined for fall 2021.
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 9:01 AM.