Message from the President
Fall 2002
This fall, at the end of my annual address to the campus community on the state of the University, I announced my planned retirement from the presidency in the summer of 2003. At that time, I will have completed 45 years, virtually all of my career, as a member of the California State University faculty and administration. I have served on four campuses and in the Chancellor’s Office of the system. Twenty-seven of those years I have been a president, the last 18 years here.
Post-retirement
I will continue to be active in the community as well as on campus as
a part-time member of the CSU in an emeritus role. I plan to teach and
write, probably in part about the CSU. It is a social invention, one of
the most important in the world in the latter half of the 20th century,
and a forerunner of what we now understand in the context of a knowledge-based
society. Some years ago I wrote a book, An
Invisible Giant: The California State Colleges.
I am contemplating updating that information, perhaps in a second edition,
as they tell me with my longevity, I have become the historian of the
system.I am proud of the many accomplishments that have been made here and in the system. CSUS continues to grow in vitality and its contributions to the community.
These have been wonderful and exciting years. I am very grateful to all of those with whom I have worked over the years both on campus and in the community, and to all of my friends and supporters of the California State University. I wish I could thank you each individually.
I would not exchange a career in the CSU for anything I know of. It has been a great run and I have enjoyed participating in the development and growth of the "people's university." If I were 20 years younger, I would apply for this job again.
Sincerely,
Donald R. Gerth
President