Say, who graduated from CSUN cum laude with a double major in religious studies and English literature in 1981, will assume her new post on July 1. She has served as interim associate dean for the college since 2001.

Linda Bain, Northridge's interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, said Say brings more than 15 years of experience in higher education to her new position.

"I am confident that her cumulative experience and knowledge will serve her well in her new role," Bain added.

Say was pleased to be selected to serve the College of Humanities as dean.

"CSUN is dear to my heart," she said. "I've been part of the community since 1972, when I was a student here, and I look forward to working with the faculty and staff of the college."

From 1998 until her appointment as interim associate dean, Say was chair of the Women's Studies Department.

"In that assignment," Bain said, "Dr. Say provided leadership in the development of a faculty and curriculum which reflects the multicultural, multiethnic experience that is the hallmark of the CSUN experience."

Say also taught for nine years in Cal State Northridge's Religious Studies Department and has been active on a number of university committees and in faculty governance.

She has published many scholarly articles in the fields of religious and women's studies, and is the author of Evidence on Her Own Behalf: Women's Narrative as Theological Voice and co-author with Mark Kowalewski of Gays, Lesbians, and Family Values.

In addition to her Northridge experience, Say has taught at the University of Southern CaliforniaÑwhere she earned her Ph.D. in religious social ethicsÑas well as at Antioch University Los Angeles and the Graduate School of Azusa Pacific University. She is a national leader in professional organizations such as the American Academy of Religion and the National Women's Studies Association.

The College of Humanities is one of the largest colleges at Cal State Northridge with more than 3,000 majors and 132 full-time and 157 part-time faculty members. It is home to such departments as Asian American Studies, Chicano/Chicana Studies, English, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, Religious Studies and Women's Studies. It also houses such interdisciplinary programs as Central American Studies, Classics, Humanities, Jewish Studies, Liberal Studies and Linguistics.

California State University, Northridge has 33,000 full- and part-time students and offers 61 bachelor's and 42 master's degrees as well as 28 education credential programs. Founded in 1958, it is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley and the fourth largest in the 23-campus CSU system. The university serves as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart of the Valley and beyond.