Don Kassing
As president of San José State University, Don W. Kassing heads the oldest and one of the largest universities in the 23-campus California State University system. Appointed in 2004, Kassing has moved the university forward in several key areas. Under his leadership, the campus is engaged in university-wide strategic planning, with the goal of making San José State University a university of choice by 2010. During the 2006-2007 academic year, San José State received $50 million in private gifts, leading the CSU system in private giving for the first time. The banner giving year capped a three-year giving total of $100 million. As president and in his former role as vice president for administration and finance, Kassing led the development, construction and successful opening of two major campus facilities: the awardwinning Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, based on a first-of-its-kind and highly successful partnership with the city of San José; and Campus Village, a state-of-theart residence complex for students, faculty and staff, the largest such project in the California State University system, and the focus of a renewed sense of community on the campus.
Kassing holds an M.B.A. and a B.S. in Economics from St. Louis University. He is married with three children and eight grandchildren.