Professor/Dean, 1971-2017
Laurence Caretto earned his B.A. and Ph.D. at UCLA. He was hired as faculty for the engineering program in 1971. He was asked to serve on the university's Task Force on General Education in 1974, and was chosen as chair.
Professor/Dean, 1970-1981, 1984-2015
Dr. Jorge Garcia was born in 1943 and raised in the San Joaquin Valley. Growing up, he worked in agriculture with his family, and then attended California State University Fresno, where he earned his BA. While working towards his MA in Political Science, he was hired to teach for the Chicano Studies Department at San Fernando Valley State College. He began working towards his PhD at University of California, Riverside, while simultaneously teaching at CSUN. In 1981 he left CSUN to work on his dissertation and make money working on the family farm in the San Joaquin Valley. He returned to CSUN in 1984, earned his PhD in 1986, and was later selected as Dean of the School of the Humanities, becoming the first Mexican American to hold that position. He was instrumental in the creation of a bridge program that made it possible for students who might not otherwise have attended college to do so.
Professor/Associate Vice President, 1969-2007
Elizabeth Berry earned her B.A. from Northwestern University and her Ph.D. from UCLA. From 1969 to 1973, she was part time faculty in the Department of Speech Communication, and was hired to the tenure track in 1973. Berry was instrumental in the creation of what is now the Women’s Studies Department, serving as its first coordinator, and is the recipient of a CSUN Gender and Women’s Studies Phenomenal Woman Award. She has served as the CFA faculty rights chair and as Associate Vice President for Academic Programs. She retired in 2007.
Library Dean, 1969-1990
Norman Tanis was born in 1929 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As dean of the library at CSUN from 1969 to 1990, he oversaw its expansion from a collection of 300,000 volumes to over a million at the time of the interview. The library also added two wings to the library under his administration, adding one hundred and ten thousand square feet to the extant building, and implemented the Automated Storage and Retrieval System, in which books would be placed in densely packed deep storage from which they could be quickly recalled. He also founded the library's Special Collections and Archives, and created the Santa Susana Press, which published fine limited-edition books. Tanis was interviewed by John Broesamle as source material for his book Suddenly a Giant: A History of California State University, Northridge (Northridge: Santa Susana Press, 1993). He passed away in 2010.
San Fernando Valley State College/CSUN President, 1969-1992
James Cleary began his service as President of Valley State College in 1969 in the midst of great social upheaval on campus that led to the development of multiple ethnic studies programs. During his 23 years as president, Cleary oversaw the campus' designation as California State University, Northridge, accompanied by a remarkable surge in student enrollment that over the following decades forced unprecedented expansion. This interview was conducted in 1990 by John Broesamle, now Professor Emeritus of History. He passed away in 2007.
Student Activist/Professor, 1967-1981
William Burwell Jr., born in Birmingham, Alabama, graduated from San Fernando Valley High School and went on to study sociology at San Fernando Valley State College in 1967. An ardent Black nationalist, he and other activists established the Black Student Union in 1967 and organized protests, which led to the creation of the Pan-African Studies Department in 1969. He taught at CSUN until 1981, when he resigned his professorship to pursue a Masters of Divinity Degree at Talbot Theological Seminary, where he also assisted in the development of a Minority Ministers Program. He organized and served as pastor to the First Berean Christian Church in Los Angeles, California, then became dean of the North American School of Theology in Knoxville, Tennessee. This interview was conducted on March 21, 1990.
Dean of Students, 1967-1991
Edmund Peckham was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1924. He served in the US Army during World War II. He earned a bachelor's in European history in 1948, and a PhD in American history and foreign policy in 1954. Though he taught history at the University of the Pacific and elsewhere, he spent most of his career in administration. He served as assistant registrar and acting director of admission at Rice University, and as dean of student life at Raymond College at the University of the Pacific. He was hired as Dean of Student Activities at San Fernando Valley College in 1967, becoming Dean of Students in 1969. During his tenure, he oversaw the opening of the University Student Union and the Klotz Student Health Center, and helped shape Associated Students. As Dean of Students, he was often the first person to speak with students protesting racial inequality, the Vietnam War, and other issues. Though he retired in 1991, he remained active on campus. He passed away in 2016.
Professor/Director, Educational Opportunity Program, 1962-2020
Dr. Stanley Charnofsky began teaching physical education and was the baseball coach at San Fernando State Valley College. He was the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) director during the student protest of November 4th, 1968, during which students spontaneously organized an occupation of the administration building in order that Acting President Blomgren hear their grievances. Charnofsky worked toward his Ph.D. in psychology while teaching at CSUN, and was teaching in the psychology department at the time of the interview.
Professor/Dean/VP/Provost, 1961-1984
David Benson earned his Ph.D. in Kinesiology from UCLA, and came to San Fernando State Valley College in 1961 as a professor of physical education. He soon moved into administration, serving in several positions until hired as president of Sonoma State University. He had a reputation for working well with faculty, perhaps in part because he believed that faculty, rather than administration, should hire and review their colleagues, and make decisions on curriculum. He passed away in 2013 at age 81 of kidney disease.
Professor/Dean of Letters and Sciences/Humanities, 1959-1989
Dr. Jerome Richfield, born in New York, New York, earned a doctorate from the University of Cincinnati and served as chair of the philosophy department at Northern Illinois University. He came to CSUN in 1959 to found its philosophy department. He served as dean of the School of Letters and Sciences from 1972 to 1974, and was Dean of the School of Humanities at CSUN from 1974 until his retirement in 1989. Richfield was interviewed by John Broesamle as source material for his book Suddenly a Giant: A History of California State University, Northridge (Northridge: Santa Susana Press, 1993). He passed away at age 71 in 1992.