Judy K. Sakaki

Judy K. Sakaki (born c. 1953) is the 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 as well as the first Asian American woman hired as a University President in California and the second woman to serve as president of SSU.[1]

Judy K. Sakaki
7th President of Sonoma State University
Assuming office
July 1, 2016
SucceedingRuben Armiñana
Personal details
Alma materCal State, East Bay
University of California, Berkeley

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 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. She earned a Ph.D. in Education from University of California, Berkeley.[3]

Before becoming the president of Sonoma State, Sakaki served as vice chancellor of student affairs at UC Davis, vice president and dean of student affairs at California State University, Fresno, and for nine years as vice president for student affairs for the University of California. 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]

Sakaki succeeded Ruben Armiñana, who emphasized capital projects including the $145 million Green Music Center. Sakaki shifted her focus to students and faculty, cancelling plans to construct a 10,000-seat outdoor concert pavilion adjacent to the Green Music Center, estimated to cost $10.6 million, and stating that the money would be better spent on academic programs.[5]

Sakaki is a former American Council on Education fellow, and an executive fellow of the California State University.

Fire

On October 9, 2017, the home of Sakaki and her husband, Patrick McCallum, was destroyed by the Tubbs Fire.[6]

References
  1. Meg Mcconahey, "Daring new president shifts focus to getting students, faculty to dream big," The Press Democrat, December 4, 2016, pp. A1, A14-A15.
  2. Meg Mcconahey, "Daring new president shifts focus to getting students, faculty to dream big," The Press Democrat, December 4, 2016, pp. A1.
  3. Meg Mcconahey, "Daring new president shifts focus to getting students, faculty to dream big," The Press Democrat, December 4, 2016, pp. A1, A14-A15.
  4. 'Biography: Judith K. Sakaki." The California State University, November 18, 2016.
  5. J.D. Morris,"SSU halts new pavilion," The Press Democrat, September 30, 2016, pp. A1-A2.
  6. Sernoffsky, Evan (October 10, 2017). "Sonoma State president's husband describes harrowing escape from Tubbs Fire". San Francisco Chronicle.
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