professional achievementS
Charting the Course for Academics Earlier this year,
public college in the western region and
will be important skills in this role. I am a
Dr. Susan Opp
third among all western regional col-
product of the CSU, and I’m a firm believer
was appointed
leges by U.S. News and World Report.
in the value of a CSU education.
Cal Maritime’s
The school has also received recent
new provost and
accolades from Forbes, Money, and
Q: What are some interesting things
vice president for
Washington Monthly.
academic affairs.
DR. SUSAN OPP
background?
Dr. Opp came
San Francisco State University, where she
to Cal Maritime
received a B.A. in Biological Sciences. She
Opp: After I applied for the position, I
from California
earned an M.S. in Entomology from U.C. Riverside and a Ph.D. in Entomology from
served as the associate vice president of
the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
academic programs and graduate studies. In her new role she will help construct a new academic master plan and strengthen Cal Maritime’s place as the center of excellence for maritime studies. 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. Prior to assuming the position of associate vice president, she chaired both the Academic Senate and the Senate Committee on Budget and Resource Allocation. She received the Outstanding Professor Award at Cal State East Bay, along with many other honors and recognitions such as 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 ranked the number one best SUMMER
2015
ners of Cal Maritime to know about your
She is a Bay Area native and an alumna of
State University East Bay, where she
14
that you want alumni, friends and part-
learned that I had a family member who was in the very first graduating class at Cal Maritime. His name was Perry Duncan. (See article on page 29) I had
Q: What interested you in the opportunity
always known him as Uncle Perry, but he
to become provost at Cal Maritime?
was a distant relative. Also, my guess is
Opp: It’s an institution that is poised to
that I’m the first entomologist who has ever
grow and that has a very good sense of who it is. It has a very distinctive identity. I was also really attracted to the small size, which makes the university feel like a family. I enjoy teamwork and collaboration, and those are clearly some of the strengths that I saw in Cal Maritime. Q: What experiences do you believe set you on the path that has brought you here? Opp: I have a history with STEM-related programs. That’s very important at a place like this. In my 25 years in academic leadership, I have established a background in developing new undergraduate and graduate programs, especially interdisciplinary programs. I’m really interested in helping the University to grow, and working with the faculty leadership to make sure that our faculty have all they need to be successful. My other strengths include strategic planning and implementation of complex student programs. I think these
worked on this campus. And yes, there are relationships between the study of insects and maritime education. Some of my work has been in the study of invasive species, and shipping is one of the most-cited instances for the introduction of invasive species. Beyond the issues with invasive species in ballast water, insects make their way to new environments aboard ships and inside of containers. Q: What do you see as the role of the provost at this point in Cal Maritime’s history? Opp: We don’t want to lose our distinctiveness and our focus. The challenges are to grow carefully and still maintain the important and essential features of maritime education. We want to engage the whole campus community in thinking about when and where and how we grow. I have an open door policy. I welcome alumni to visit and help me with the challenge of learning about Cal Maritime and its history. THE CALIFORNIA MARITIME ACADEMY