(VALLEJO, California – January 30, 2015) – Dr. Susan Opp has been appointed provost
of California State University Maritime Academy. The announcement was made today by
Cal Maritime President Tom Cropper following a five-month, national search.
Dr. Opp currently serves as the associate vice president of academic programs and
graduate studies at California State University East Bay. She will assume her new
post at Cal Maritime on May 1.
"Dr. Opp has an impressive background in curriculum development," said President
Cropper. "I believe she is the ideal person to lead the construction of our academic
master plan and ensure Cal Maritime's place as the center of excellence for maritime
studies."
Previously at Cal State East Bay, Opp was a professor of Biological Sciences, graduate
coordinator for Biological and Marine Sciences M.S. programs and founder and director
of the Environmental Science B.S. program. Immediately prior to assuming the position
of associate vice president, she was chair of the Academic Senate and chair of the
Senate Committee on Budget and Resource Allocation. She was the recipient of the Outstanding
Professor Award at Cal State East Bay in 2009. Opp has received many other awards,
honors and recognitions, including the Woman of the Year in Science Award from the
Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame and the John H. Comstock Award for Outstanding
Graduate Research from the Entomological Society of America.
As provost at Cal Maritime, Dr. Opp will be the senior academic administrator for
a program which has been ranked the number one best public college in the western
region and third among all western regional colleges by U.S. News and World Report.
The school has also received recent accolades from Forbes, Money, and Washington Monthly.
Dr. Opp is a Bay Area native and an alumna of San Francisco State University, where
she received a B.A. in Biological Sciences. She earned an M.S. in Entomology from
U.C. Riverside and a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
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ABOUT CAL MARITIME
Established in 1929, California State University Maritime Academy is the only degree-granting
maritime academy on the West Coast. Located in Vallejo, California, the campus offers
undergraduate degrees that prepare students for careers in engineering, transportation,
international relations, business, and global logistics. Cal Maritime also offers
a master’s degree in Transportation and Engineering Management, as well as a number
of extended learning programs and courses.