SJSU News Archive
Date: 05/27/2010
Don W. Kassing, 68, who retired as president of San Jose State University in 2008, has been appointed interim president of the university following the departure of Jon Whitmore, who will become CEO of ACT Inc.
Kassing was SJSU vice president of administration and finance from 1993 to 2004, when he become interim president, and then president in 2005.
"We are very fortunate that Don and Amy Kassing have agreed to give up their retirement, and come back to San Jose from their home in Phoenix," said CSU Board Trustee Herbert L. Carter. "Don served San Jose State in an outstanding manner, and the CSU Board of Trustees is extremely grateful and appreciative that he has agreed to serve as interim president."
CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said, "Don will be welcomed back to the campus and we know that it will be in the hands of a proven leader with a record of stability and familiarity with the campus, students and community."
Kassing will assume the interim appointment on August 1, and will serve until a presidential search is completed sometime in 2011. His salary will be set at the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in July.
Kassing moved the university forward in several key areas. Under his leadership, the campus made strides in private fundraising with gifts leading to the naming of the Donald and Sally Lucas Graduate School of Business, the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering and the Connie Lurie College of Education.
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 award-winning Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library and Campus Village. Kassing earned his M.B.A. and B.S. in Economics from St. Louis University.