CSUN’s Wilson Rebuilds, Leads Campus

Her sharp intellect, quick wit and grace under fire have made Blenda J. Wilson a rising star in California’s gargantuan higher education system, even though she has presided over Cal State Northridge fewer than five years.

Formerly a chancellor at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, the 56-year-old Wilson arrived at CSUN in late 1992, replacing James W. Cleary, who had held the post for 23 years.

The first African American woman to preside over the 40-year-old university, Wilson was expected to spend much of her time beefing up the school’s foundation and promoting multiculturalism on the increasingly diverse campus.

But little more than a year after her arrival, a more pressing problem would present itself.

At 4:31 on the morning of Jan. 17, 1994, the earth beneath the university began to jump and lurch.

In a matter of seconds, much of the campus--and a good deal of the Valley--crumbled and cracked under the force of the Northridge earthquake.

Despite massive damage--much of it still evident today--Wilson oversaw efforts that led to the university reopening just one month later, impressing local community leaders and politicians as well as state education officials.

A tireless pitch-woman for the university, Wilson was also lauded for her poise during a raucous Sacramento hearing in 1996 on the anti-affirmative action measure, Proposition 209, and her handling of a campus visit by former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke at about the same time.

Widely viewed as someone destined for even bigger things, Wilson has said she has no plans to leave CSUN any time soon.