Dr. Mildred García assumed the presidency of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) on January 22, 2018.
As AASCU’s president, Dr. García is an advocate for public higher education at the national level, working to influence federal policy and regulations on behalf of member colleges and universities. She is the first Latina to lead one of the six presidentially based higher education associations in Washington, D.C.
Prior to joining AASCU, Dr. García served as the president of California State University, Fullerton—the largest university in the CSU and the third largest university in the state. President García previously served as president of CSU Dominguez Hills where she was the first Latina president in the largest system of public higher education in the country. Before her arrival in the CSU, President García served as the CEO of Berkeley College where she was the first system-wide president for all six campuses.
She has held both academic and senior-level positions at Arizona State University; Montclair State University; Pennsylvania State University; Teachers College, Columbia University; and the Hostos, LaGuardia, and City Colleges of the City University of New York.
A first-generation college student, Dr. García earned a Doctor of Education degree and a M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University; a M.A. in Business Education/Higher Education from New York University; a B.S. in Business Education from Baruch College, City University of New York; and an A.A.S. from New York City Community College.
She actively promotes partnerships between U.S. higher education institutions and societal, cultural and higher education systems of other countries. She has participated with the Fulbright-Hays Seminar for Presidents in 2011, in Jordan and Oman, as well as attended the Fulbright IEA Seminar in 2017, in France. She has also participated in the Fulbright Scholar Program in 2018, including speaking atthe 70th anniversary of the Fulbright Commission Franco-Américaine, in France.