CSU Board Head’s Degree Claim False : Education: Trustees’ chairwoman admits she didn’t complete work for graduation. She and her husband were fund-raisers for Gov. Deukmejian.

The chairwoman of the California State University trustees misstated her academic credentials when she told the governor’s office and the state Senate that she had received an Associate of Arts degree in literature from Long Beach City College in 1959, she acknowledged Tuesday.

Marianthi Lansdale--wife of Long Beach developer William M. Lansdale, a generous political supporter of Gov. George Deukmejian--conceded to The Times that she had never received her community college degree, although she listed the degree and a 1959 graduation date when the governor nominated her to the prestigious board in 1985. She was unanimously confirmed by the state Senate for a term that expires in March, 1993.

As chairwoman, Lansdale heads a 24-member board charged with making policy decisions for one of the largest public four-year university systems in the world. Lansdale selects colleagues to serve on special committees, chairs board meetings six times a year, and helps set the tone in salary negotiations with the system’s 19,200 faculty members. The board chair is rotated among members, who elect the presiding officer for a one-year term.

Long Beach City College records show that Lansdale attended the school for 13 semesters between 1957 and 1967--eight years past the date of her claimed graduation. Lansdale said she took night courses because she was a working mother struggling to raise a child and put her first husband through college.

Although Lansdale said she accumulated the 60 credits needed for the AA degree, the Long Beach patron of the arts acknowledged Tuesday that she never received the formal degree because she lacked a required course in either geography or history. The 1959 graduation date is also included on the current official CSU information sheet for Lansdale.

“You know what? I never thought anybody would write a story or cared or it mattered,” she said Tuesday. “It wasn’t like I lied about a traffic infraction or a felony or a fraud. I’m just a good solid citizen and I never thought I would be living in a fishbowl.”

Lansdale, 57, said Tuesday that she “doesn’t care” that she misstated her educational background, emphasizing that she received credits “equivalent” to an AA degree. She also blamed the misrepresentation on her part to confusion and the fact that she is unaccustomed to filling out application forms.

‘Don’t Even Care’

“People who read your article don’t even care. You know that?” she said. “I think they ought to be proud a working mother attended and found the time and ability to attend school at night.”

But Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) said Tuesday that Lansdale should step down. Had the Senate known that she misrepresented her educational credentials, she would not have been confirmed, he said.

“It goes to the heart and substance of what she does on the board,” he said. “The board . . . in effect sets the value of the degree and to falsify your own degree information is intolerable.”

A spokesman for Deukmejian said Tuesday the governor’s office was checking into whether Lansdale’s education claims were subjected to a background check before being sent on to the Senate as part of the confirmation hearings.

Lansdale was appointed to the state university board after she and her husband, through their Long Beach development company, gave more than $95,000 and the use of a corporate aircraft to Deukmejian’s 1982 campaign, public records show. Board members do not receive a salary, but are paid $100 a day and expenses for meetings.

In an interview last week, Lansdale acknowledged that her nomination to the CSU board in 1985 surprised her, especially since she had not attended a four-year institution and did not have a bachelor’s degree. She also said that her political activity was a factor in prompting the governor to make the selection.

“We worked diligently and hard in raising money for the governor,” Lansdale said. “This is his way of saying, ‘You did a good job and this is a prestigious appointment and you’re going to do a good job.’ That’s just the ABCs of the political world.”

CSU Chancellor W. Ann Reynolds said Tuesday that the lack of a college degree has not dimmed Lansdale’s enthusiasm or ability to serve as a trustee, for which there are no educational requirements. She said the misrepresentations by Lansdale “do not bother me” and that trustees cannot be held to the same standards as university employees, who can be fired if found to be falsifying academic credentials.

But Pat Nichelson, president of the union representing state university employees, said Tuesday that the misrepresentations by Lansdale amounted to a “substantial transgression for a trustee.

“She must know she now owes an explanation to her board colleagues, to the university community, and to the public,” he said.

Times staff writer Mark Gladstone contributed to this story.