Fresno State gets its first immigrant president in Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval

Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval – who migrated with his family from Jalpa, Zacatecas, México and didn’t speak a word of English when he was 10 years old – has worldly goals as Fresno State’s ninth and newest president.

“We don’t need to look to Los Ángeles or San Francisco or the coast or anywhere else in order to say to ourselves, ‘We are proud to be from this region,” Jiménez-Sandoval said Wednesday (May 19) during an on-campus meeting with the media.

“We are proud to really promote the sense of this California, the Central California that is ours, with this value of diversity from all over the world,” said Jiménez-Sandoval, who was born in a house that has been in his paternal grandmother’s family for more than two centuries.

Jiménez-Sandoval, who was Fresno State interim president after Dr. Joseph I. Castro took over the reins as chancellor of the 23-campus California State University system in January, was approved by the CSU board of trustees to succeed Castro on Wednesday.

He will get an annual salary of $348,423, a monthly car allowance of $1,000 and use of the University House in the Fig Garden area for his primary residence.

“I have every confidence that Fresno State and the CSU will long benefit from the breadth and depth of His experience and expertise,” Castro said in Wednesday’s CSU board meeting.

Lengthy list of posts at Fresno State

Jiménez-Sandoval is no stranger to Fresno State. He arrived at the university in 2000 as a professor of Spanish and Portuguese. He has gone on to positions as provost, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literature, and, coordinator of the Spanish master of arts degree.

“I’ve been interviewing for this job for the last 20 years,” said Jiménez-Sandoval at Wednesday’s press conference on the third floor of the Henry Madden Library. “Having taught at Fresno State for 15 years, I know the unlimited potential and power of our students.”

Serving as interim president and provost, he said, gave him a deeper understanding of Fresno State and its impact in the region.

“I visited every single department as provost, which gave me an incredible insight on what research was happening with every department, and where we needed to go from that point on,” he said, “and then when I became interim president, I really got to see the whole impact Fresno State has on our region.

It is that vision that Jiménez-Sandoval sees as vital not only for the Central Valley, but for the world.

Says Fresno State is “at the forefront of research”

“By 2050, we have to produce 60% more food in the world because we will be almost 10 billion people in the world,” he said. “We are poised as a university with this incredible legacy of agriculture to really lead the way in technology.

“We are a world university that is at the forefront of research.”

Jiménez-Sandoval knows about agriculture. He toiled alongside his siblings on a family-run farm in Fowler and grew up hating tomatoes “for the longest time.”

He obtained his bachelor and doctoral degrees at UC Irvine and returned to Fresno because “it was my obligation to give back to the Valley because the Valley gave to me.”

As the first immigrant named to head Fresno State’s 25,341 students, Jiménez-Sandoval said he understands the value of diversity.

“I think representation is important,” he said. “We are the ninth-most diverse city in the entire United States. We speak more than 100 different languages in the region.

“We have people from all over the world who are here and who have now settled in this fertile valley of ours, and have really deep roots.”

Jiménez-Sandoval was lauded by Dr. Thomas Holyoke, political science professor and chair of the Academic Senate.

“As an academic and a tenured professor, President Jiménez-Sandoval understands the central role faculty play in a university as well as the importance of a well-rounded liberal arts education for training the San Joaquín Valley’s future movers and shakers.”

Student body president Elizabeth Rocha Zuñiga, who graduated last weekend, worked with Jiménez-Sandoval in that position.

“I hope he continues to support students and to communicate with our student body,” she said. “He has been supportive for students and I look forward to seeing what he will accomplish next as our president.”

Jiménez-Sandoval was accompanied to the press conference by his wife, Fresno State philosophy professor Dr. Mariana Anagnostopoulos, and their two sons, Arion and Leo.

Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 21 de mayo de 2021, 2:11 p. m..