Leadership

Robert Gunsalus

Robert Gunsalus
Vice President for University Advancement and President of the CSUN Foundation

Robert D. Gunsalus, CSUN’s Vice President for University Advancement, is a veteran university administrator with over 20 years of higher education and leadership experience. He is responsible for overseeing Government and Community Relations, Alumni Relations, Fundraising, Special Events, and Marketing and Communications. He also serves as president of the California State University, Northridge Foundation, which is responsible for all of CSUN’s philanthropic assets and is overseen by a volunteer Board of Trustees. The Foundation Board serves as the University’s primary external leadership group. He also oversees KCSN 88.5 FM, a non-profit radio station serving greater Los Angeles. He led the station through a partnership with KSBR in Orange County that was the largest expansion of a non-commercial signal in the history of the U.S. and now serves as the founding chairman of the oversight committee for the combined signal. In addition, Gunsalus serves on the advisory board for LACI@CSUN, an innovation and business incubator serving the San Fernando Valley and beyond, and is involved in numerous other civic and social organizations. He has also served as the chairman of the California State University advancement council, which provides advice and guidance on the marketing, branding, media relations, fundraising, advocacy, alumni relations and endowment management practices throughout the CSU system. At CSUN, his teams have won more than 50 national and regional advancement awards.

Before coming to CSUN, Gunsalus was Vice President for University Relations at Santa Clara University. At Santa Clara, he led the institution’s marketing and outreach efforts. He was also Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director of the Advancement Foundation at Humboldt State University. Prior to that, he served as Associate Vice President for University Advancement at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Early in his career he was the head men’s soccer coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan University and Purdue University, receiving regional and conference coach of the year honors. In addition, he served as a legislative assistant with the U.S. House of Representatives and worked in various political organizations on the East Coast.

Gunsalus holds a Ph.D. in political science from Purdue University, an M.A. in political science from North Carolina State University, and a B.A. in theology from Oklahoma Wesleyan University. He has served as an instructor for a variety of courses in political science and theory at Humboldt State, Purdue, Oklahoma Wesleyan and Indiana Wesleyan universities.

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