President Leroy M. Morishita Announces Retirement

Leroy M. Morishita announced today that he will retire as president of California State University, East Bay June 30, 2020. He has led the university since June 2011 and is the fifth president since its founding more than 60 years ago.

“With our deserving students, the great work of our faculty and staff, and ongoing support of alumni and others, we have flourished and met the potential I knew existed when I began my presidency. My 40 years as a California State employee has taken me on a journey I could not have imagined. I thank all of you for helping to make this the best job I ever had,” he said in a statement to the university community.

At the time of his retirement, more than 40,000 graduates, about 50 percent of whom are the first in their families to attend college, will have received diplomas signed by President Morishita. He also led the university through a three-year conversion project from a quarter-term to semester schedule. Under his direction, Cal State East Bay has seen its highest-ever fundraising, exceeding the target with $65 million raised during the Rising in the East campaign, which ends later this year. 

“My goal to build the CSUEB community — across Hayward, Concord, Oakland, the East Bay and beyond — has been to provide the vision for our staff, faculty, alumni and community partners to work collaboratively to teach, to envision the future and to provide the support services needed to assist our students to dream, soar, be successful in their endeavors and become socially responsible citizens in the world,” he said.

President Morishita started his career in the California State University system in 1978 as a counseling coordinator and counselor for the Educational Opportunity Program at San Francisco State University, where he continued his career. Before joining Cal State East Bay, he was executive vice president for administration and finance and chief financial officer at San Francisco State University. 

“For over four decades and at two California State University campuses, Leroy Morishita has worked diligently to improve educational opportunities for many thousands of students throughout the Bay Area,” said Timothy P. White, chancellor of the California State University system.

“He has consistently provided a valuable perspective on systemwide issues, and his experience and vision proved especially helpful as we have created a more sustainable financial model for the CSU. I applaud and am thankful for President Morishita’s long-standing dedication to the CSU, as well as his service to the people of California.”  

President Morishita’s influence is widespread throughout the state and the Bay Area. He chairs the President’s Commission for the systemwide CSU STEM-NET affinity group and is a member of the CSU Commission on Online Education and the Presidents’ Commission for the Program for Education & Research in Biotechnology. He serves as chair of the California Campus Compact Executive Board and a director of the National Campus Compact Board and is on the Higher Education Advisory Committee for the Public Policy Institute of California. 

Locally, he is a founding member of the Chabot Space and Science Center Leadership Council, a trustee of the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, and serves on the board of directors of the Bay Area Council and the East Bay Leadership Council. He is a member of the Executive Committee and a board member of the East Bay Economic Development Alliance. He chairs the board of trustees of the JA Health Benefits Trust.

President Leroy M. Morishita’s biography has further information about his education, experience and affiliations. 

The California State University Office of the Chancellor has also released a statement about President Morishita’s retirement and the upcoming national search for his successor.