Joseph Castro, Ph.D.

Joseph I. Castro is an Affiliated Faculty at the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education. In February 2023, he will also be Professor of Leadership and Public Policy at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s Orfalea College of Business. Dr. Castro served as the eighth Chancellor of the California State University – the nation’s largest and most diverse university — and the eighth president of California State University, Fresno. He was the first Californian and first person of color to serve in these leadership positions. Dr. Castro is a gifted scholar in the fields of leadership and public policy who has mentored hundreds of other scholars and practitioners, including many other university presidents and senior officers. Prior to his appointments in the CSU system, Dr. Castro served for 23 years at five University of California campuses – Berkeley, Davis, Merced, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara – and the UC Office of the President. Dr. Castro received a B.A. in political science and M.P.P. in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley and Ph.D. in higher education policy and leadership from Stanford University. He is the grandson of farmworkers from Mexico and was born and raised in Hanford, CA. Dr. Castro is the first person in his family to graduate from a university.