Former NCAA president Joseph Crowley named interim SJSU president
Long Beach, Calif.-----Chancellor Charles B. Reed and the California State University Board of Trustees today appointed Joseph N. Crowley, president emeritus of Nevada University, Reno, as interim president of San Jose State University. His appointme
Crowley, 69, left the presidency of the University of Nevada, Reno, in January 2001, after nearly 23 years in the position. He has since served during the 2001 Nevada State Legislative Session as the coordinator of legislative activities for the University and Community College System of Nevada, then returned to the UNR faculty as Regents Professor and President Emeritus, teaching American political and constitutional history.
Highlights of Crowley's UNR presidency include establishing a university foundation; completing a major capital campaign; and expanding the campus School of Medicine into a statewide institution. He also oversaw the development of a new core curriculum and, jointly with that initiative, an ambitious effort to enhance sponsored faculty research. He is responsible for founding the new College of Human and Community Sciences and the Reynolds School of Journalism. During this time, he also served a two-year term as president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (1993-95) and provided leadership in a wide variety of academic and service organizations.
"I've known President Crowley since my AD days at Utah State University. He was very visible in the position of president of the NCAA at a time when we had national legislative sessions," said San Jose State athletics director Chuck Bell. "I watched him take the University of Nevada from the Big Sky Conference to NCAA Division I-A in the Big West and from the Big West to WAC membership.
"He is a legend in the state of Nevada and the NCAA."
Crowley received his PhD from the University of Washington, his master's from CSU Fresno, and his bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa, all in political science. He is the author of three books on the academic presidency and related subjects, including The Constant Conversation, 2000.
Crowley joined the political science faculty of UNR as an assistant professor in 1966. He rose to full professor, serving as chair of his department and as chair of the Faculty Senate before being appointed interim president of the university in 1978. He was appointed to the position permanently one year later.
A native of Iowa, Crowley spent four years in military service (U.S. Air Force, enlisted ranks). He and his wife, Joy, have four children and seven grandchildren.