(Photo: David Schmitz)
College of H&A Welcomes New SJSU President, Mary A. Papazian, Ph.D.
The College of Humanities and the Arts welcomes Mary A. Papazian, Ph.D., as San José State’s new president. Here at H&A, our welcome is especially warm because…she’s one of us! Dr. Papazian earned her Ph.D. in English at UCLA and went on to distinguish herself as a scholar of John Donne, the 17th century metaphysical poet. Currently President of Southern Connecticut State University, Dr. Papazian has also served as Dean of Montclair University’s College of Arts and Science as well as Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at Lehman College, which is part of the City University of New York.
Speaking to Dr. Papazian’s selection as president, CSU Trustee Rebecca D. Eisen, Chair of the Trustees’ Committee for the Selection of the President, says, “Dr. Papazian envisions partnering with faculty, the campus community, and external stakeholders to expand this sound foundation and bolster educational opportunities for students.”
On July 1st, Dr. Papazian will become SJSU’s 29th president and the third female president in its 159-year history. As President at Southern Connecticut University, Dr. Papazian implemented a number of initiatives that focused on academic programs, campus environment, and student success. She increased academic advising staff and services, expanded outreach to community colleges, and established a President’s Commission on Campus Climate and Inclusion to strengthen the university’s core commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion.
“I am very excited that we will be having a Renaissance literary scholar leading San José State University next fall,” says Shannon Miller, Chair of the Department of English and Comparative Literature. “President Papazian’s scholarship has explored the rich intersections of John Donne’s poetry and religious belief,” she continues, “as well as the larger context of the Protestant Reformation. She will bring a profound sensitivity to the values of the humanities and the arts to San José State at a time when these vital components of a college education are often undervalued as a result of an overemphasis on STEM fields. I look forward to her leadership in integrating the power of the arts and the humanities into all aspects of our students’ education and experiences while at SJSU.”
San José represents a California homecoming for Dr. Papazian, who was born and raised in southern California. “I knew it was time I come back to California when people started thinking that I was actually a New Yorker,” she joked at her SJSU welcome reception on February 22nd.
At the reception, Papazian pointed to SJSU’s strategic location within Silicon Valley, and the continued potential such a relationship with the region engenders. “While we can look back at our origins as a public university and the oldest in the West,” she says, “we also recognize that we are housed in an incredible location that is building the future.”
With Papazian’s long-term commitment to lead SJSU into its next chapter, the future for H&A, and San José State, looks bright indeed.
