By SDSU News Team
March 8, 2017 (San Diego) -- San Diego State University President Elliot Hirshman announced this morning that he has accepted the presidency of Stevenson University in Maryland. His last day at SDSU will be June 30. Hirshman has served as the president of SDSU since 2011.
Hirshman says the last six years have been “extraordinary,” adding, “The opportunity to work with the dedicated and talented students, faculty, staff, alumni and community supporters of San Diego State has inspired us, and it has been a privilege to contribute to the growth and development of this great university.”
During Hirshman’s time as SDSU’s eighth president, SDSU has raised its profile as a major public research university. SDSU ranks in the top 10 for students studying abroad and for ethnic and economic diversity; Forbes, Fortune and U.S. News & World Report all rank it in the top 25 for entrepreneurship; and the university has produced 85 Fulbright student scholars in the past decade. SDSU researchers bring in $130 million annually in external research funding.
The university is recognized nationally for increasing retention and graduation rates – rates that are nearly equal across ethnic and racial groups – and it has moved up 37 spots during Hirshman’s tenure in the U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of America’s colleges.
Under Hirshman’s leadership, SDSU has created a new strategic plan and raised more than $785 million in private philanthropy for scholarships and new initiatives, also establishing the Susan and Stephen Weber Honors College and built and remodeled facilities across campus.
California State University Chancellor Timothy White says Hirshman has made “an incredible impact on San Diego State University.”