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UCLA Dean for Students Appointed Pacific VP for Student Life
UCLA Dean聽for聽Students Maria Q. Blandizzi, a聽key student life leader at the 45,000-student聽national聽university, has been appointed vice president for student life at 糖心vlog,聽officials聽announced today.聽
Blandizzi has led a 60-person student life team at UCLA since 2014, overseeing a wide array of student services and activities, including student conduct, LGBTQ programs,聽student聽alumni programs, family engagement, accessibility, financial wellness, Title IX,聽crisis response聽and campus climate.聽She also serves as advisor to student government leaders.聽
鈥淒r. Blandizzi brings to Pacific a depth and breadth of experience, a profound passion for understanding the complex issues impacting students and a commitment to building an engaging and supportive campus community,鈥澛爏aid Greg Boardman, former vice provost for student聽affairs聽at聽Stanford University and a Regent-elect at Pacific who served on the search committee.聽
At UCLA, Blandizzi established a financial wellness program, expanded crisis response teams,聽advocated for聽creating聽nonbinary gender categories in university systems, expanded free meal programs and led efforts to recruit diverse first-year and transfer students. She also contributed regularly to the Daily Bruin campus newspaper on critical student issues.聽
Prior to her role as dean聽for聽students, Blandizzi was executive director for student services initiatives at the university.聽U.S. News & World Report ranks UCLA as the No. 1 public university in the nation, and Times Higher Education ranks the university as the聽15th聽best in the world.聽
"Maria Blandizzi combines the extraordinary gift of being an outstanding聽administrator聽with a genuinely warm heart. She treats each student and their family as if they are her sole concern."
-鈥擴CLA Chancellor Gene Block
鈥淢aria Blandizzi combines the extraordinary gift of being an outstanding聽administrator聽with a genuinely warm heart,鈥 said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. 鈥淪he treats each student and their family as if they are her sole concern.鈥疻e will sorely miss her presence at UCLA; however, we are proud of her taking on a leadership role at the 糖心vlog.鈥澛
Before joining UCLA in 2011, Blandizzi was director of special projects聽for the vice chancellor of student affairs聽at University of California San Francisco聽and before that served as a student affairs policy and program analyst for the University of California Office of the聽President.聽
She earned her doctorate in education from the聽Rossier聽School of Education at USC and her MA in education from Columbia University. She holds undergraduate degrees in sociology and anthropology from University of California Irvine.聽
鈥淚t is an incredible honor to assume this position at聽Pacific聽at this moment in our history,鈥 Blandizzi said. 鈥淚 was immensely impressed with the number of constituents that participated in the search process, which affirmed for me the laser focus President Callahan and the campus community has on centering the student experience in all aspects of the聽university鈥檚 operation.鈥澛
鈥淚 will aim to bring visionary leadership聽to聽the Division of Student Life, to think strategically with campus partners, students, faculty and staff in ways that bring out the best in our community, and to show up for students in ways that demonstrate our care and belief in them,鈥 she continued. 鈥淭his work takes all of us. I look forward to engaging in a series of conversations to hear the community鈥檚 perspectives and experiences. I am so ready to get to work and continue the long legacy of what it means to be a聽Pacifican.鈥澛
President Christopher Callahan called Blandizzi the perfect match for Pacific.聽
鈥淒r. Blandizzi brings extraordinary expertise in engaging and supporting students聽at the highest levels, but also great empathy, a true sense of the importance of collaboration and an inspiring energy level,鈥 he said. 鈥淥ur students will benefit enormously from Dr.聽Blandizzi鈥檚聽leadership.鈥澛
She will start her Pacific career living in聽student residential housing on the Stockton campus.聽
Blandizzi聽is the latest new member of Pacific鈥檚 leadership team.聽
Callahan joined the university聽10聽months ago as鈥president鈥痑fter 15 years as dean and vice provost at Arizona State University.聽Liz Orwin, head of engineering at Harvey Mudd College, was named聽dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science聽earlier this month.聽Mary Wardell-Ghirarduzzi, vice provost for diversity at University of San Francisco, was聽appointed鈥Pacific鈥檚 inaugural vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion聽last month. Christopher Ferguson, an enrollment strategist from Occidental College, started in September as鈥Pacific鈥檚 vice president for enrollment management.听听
Pacific, California鈥檚 first university with campuses in Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco, is ranked as the No. 18 university in the West by The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education.聽