Judy K. Sakaki

Judy K Sakaki
Occupation	University President

Judy K. Sakaki (born c. 1953) is president of Sonoma State University (SSU). She spent most of her previous academic career as a student affairs administrator in the University of California system. She is the first Japanese American woman to head a four-year college or university in the United States and the first Asian American women hired as a University President in California and the second woman to serve as president of SSU.

Sakaki's maternal grandparents, her mother and her uncle were held in the Topaz Internment camp in Delta, Utah during World War II. Although she was not born until well after the end of World War II, she was deeply moved by stories of her family's experiences in the camps.

Growing up in the multicultural neighborhoods of Oakland, California in the 1970s, Sakaki was a first-generation college student. She earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in Human Development and an M.A. in Educational Psychology from California State University, East Bay and a Ph.D. in Education from University of California, Berkeley.

Prior to SSU, Sakaki served as vice chancellor of student affairs at UC Davis, vice president and dean of student affairs at Fresno State Uniiversity, and for nine years as vice president for student affairs for the University of California system. In 2009 Sakaki co-chaired a task force to award honorary degrees to approximately 700 Japanese American UC students who were unable to complete their degrees due to their internment during World War II.

Following the SSU presidency of Ruben Armiñana, who emphasized capital projects including the $145 million Green Music Center, through retirements and new jobs Sakaki recruited a dream team of retiring administrators from the UC/CSU system until permanent staff could be appointed. She recently announced the permanent replacement of the Provost position . Sakaki shifted her focus to students and faculty, attracting one description of a "breath of fresh air." Three months after assuming the presidency at SSU, Sakaki cancelled plans to construct a 10,000-seat outdoor concert pavilion adjacent to the Green Music Center, estimated to cost $10.6 million, stating the money would be better spent on academic programs meeting the needs of students and faculty.

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