Contact: Ken Swisher ,
(818) 677-2130
kswisher@calstate.edu

Provost Louanne Kennedy Named Interim President At CSU Northridge

"Louanne Kennedy has the leadership skills, experience and knowledge about Northridge to guide the university through this transition period," said Reed. "The campus is in good hands while we work with the faculty and students on campus to find the best president to lead CSUN in the future."

Kennedy currently holds the administration's second-ranking position at CSUN, and has been responsible for the campus in the past when the president has been away. She oversees the university's academic affairs division, the largest of the campus s operating units with a nearly $90 million annual budget. The provost guides all academic services at the university, including undergraduate programs, the University Library, CSUN s Ventura Campus, graduate studies and international student programs, and institutional research.

"Cal State Northridge has been my home for the past six years. The faculty, staff and students are outstanding, and I am proud to have this opportunity to work closely with them all in the coming year," said Kennedy. "We are a campus that has accepted many challenges and accomplished much together. We will continue the direction already established by President Blenda Wilson." Kennedy, a New York University graduate, came to CSUN from Kean College of New Jersey, where she was vice president for academic affairs from 1990 to 1993. Before that, she was associate provost at Baruch College in the City University of New York system from 1987 to 1990.

Kennedy succeeds Wilson, who, after serving as CSUN president since 1992, announced last month that she would leave in May to accept the position as president and chief operating officer of Nellie Mae Foundation in Braintree, Mass.