San Francisco State University president Lynn Mahoney on Tuesday announced that she will retire next summer after eight years with the school.
Mahoney was the first woman president at SFSU and the university’s 14th president overall.
“This was a deeply and solely personal decision. Working with the best colleagues anywhere in service to our deeply engaged and talented student body has been a joy, but supporting my growing family, especially my beautiful granddaughters, calls,” Mahoney said in a statement.
She pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in federal and state support for California State University campuses as challenges during her tenure, but said SFSU enrollment numbers are up this fall and graduation rates are at or near all-time highs for the school.
“What an honor it has been to serve as your president. I look forward to the work we will do this year and to supporting SFSU as it continues to meet its mission to serve students and the region.”
Lynn Mahoney, San Francisco State University president
“What an honor it has been to serve as your president. I look forward to the work we will do this year and to supporting SFSU as it continues to meet its mission to serve students and the region,” Mahoney said.
With Mahoney departing in the summer of 2027, the chair of the CSU Board of Trustees and CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia will soon select a committee of campus and community stakeholders to lead a national search for Mahoney’s successor.
“President Mahoney has served the university with great distinction through a tenure marked by extraordinary challenges, including an unprecedented global pandemic and significant and interrelated challenges of declining enrollment brought on by demographic shifts and severe budget constraints,” Garcia said in a statement.
“Thanks in large part to President Mahoney’s extraordinary service, the future of San Francisco State is indeed bright,” Garcia said.
