Diverse: Issues In Higher Education is pleased to announce that Dr. James M. Rosser, formerly president of California State University, Los Angeles, is the recipient of this year’s Dr. John Hope Franklin Award.
Rosser served as the sixth president of Cal State L.A. for over three decades. He retired on June 30, 2013 after 33 years at Cal State L.A.’s helm. He also served as professor of health care management and professor of biological sciences at Cal State L.A. Previously, Rosser served as vice chancellor in the Department of Higher Education for the State of New Jersey and briefly as acting chancellor. Before those posts, he was associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Kansas and a tenured faculty member in pharmacology and toxicology.
Throughout his tenure as president, Rosser transformed Cal State L.A. into one of the nation’s top-tier urban universities in the sciences, engineering, education and the arts. A tireless advocate for increasing access to higher education for underserved communities, he also has promoted programs that increase diversity in education and within the scientific community.
About this Award:
The Dr. John Hope Franklin Award was created in 2004 to pay tribute to the late Dr. Franklin, a historian, writer, educator, and humanitarian who made significant contributions to shaping the perspective of American history in the 20th century. Diverse created the award to institutionalize and celebrate on an ongoing basis his scholarly contributions to the nation. The individuals and organizations chosen are those whose contributions to higher education are consistent with the highest standards of excellence.
Past recipients have included Dr. Clifton Wharton, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Maya Angelou, the late Dr. William Friday and Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, just to name a few.
This year’s award, sponsored by TIAA-CREF, will be presented at a reception on Monday, March 10, 2014, from 6:45-7:45 p.m., during the 96th annual meeting of the American Council on Education in San Diego, Calif.
For more info, contact Maya M. Minter of Diverse: Issues in Higher Education at (703) 385-2411 or [email protected].
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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 230,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu
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