Cal State Fullerton Names V.P. for Academic Affairs

Culminating a nationwide search, a longtime Cal State Fullerton educator has been appointed the university’s vice president for academic affairs, university officials announced Wednesday.

Don A. Schweitzer of Placentia had served as acting vice president since October. He was chosen to take over the official role because he has mixed “effective planning, objective analysis and experimentation” in his career at Cal State Fullerton, said university President Milton A. Gordon.

“As acting vice president during the past year, Dr. Schweitzer worked effectively with faculty, staff, administrators and students in improving the quality of our educational programs,” Gordon said.

The appointment is effective immediately. He was chosen out of 84 candidates from across the nation.

Schweitzer, a professor of psychology, joined the Cal State Fullerton faculty in 1969. Before being named acting vice president, Schweitzer was dean of the university’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Since 1979, much of Schweitzer’s work has been focused on increasing the international education of the students. He established a Pacific Rim studies program, helped the Japanese language program and created an educational program in London. In 1990, he was the only Californian to receive a special fellowship to participate in an Arab and Islamic studies program in Saudi Arabia, and last year he was among six administrators in the country selected to attend a special international program in Japan and Korea.

Schweitzer also has served on numerous educational task forces in the state, including the governor’s California Council for Humanities in 1990 and a 1975 California State University panel that developed and implemented new ideas for improving students’ writing skills.