Jose A. Gomez is executive vice president and provost at California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA), ranked number one in the nation for the upward mobility of its students. A champion for greater access to higher education, he has been instrumental in the university’s strategic effort to enhance student success, elevate fundraising to historic highs, craft innovative partnerships with government and industry, and deepen engagement with the city of Los Angeles.

Gomez has led major initiatives that expand opportunities for students and the community. He played a key role in the creation of Cal State LA’s Downtown campus, which brings new educational opportunities to the city’s core. He launched Cal State LA BioSpace, a bioscience startup incubator that provides laboratories, equipment, and support for students and emerging entrepreneurs throughout the region. Gomez was instrumental in establishing Cal State LA’s Prison B.A. Graduation Initiative, the first in-person bachelor’s degree completion program for incarcerated students in California. He developed and negotiated the public-private partnership between the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) and Cal State LA, and the acquisition and financing for the university’s state-of-the-art Television, Film and Media Center. He has guided research, philanthropic, and facilities initiatives that have raised more than $50 million in external funding for Cal State LA. Gomez also helped found Achieve LA, a regional effort with the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, that creates pathways to higher education for local youth and provides civic engagement opportunities for residents in some of the region’s most under-resourced communities.

Gomez, a civic leader with extensive experience in government, politics, education, and business, previously served as a senior advisor to the president pro tempore of the California Senate. He also held senior leadership positions in the California Department of Justice, the State Treasurer’s Office, and was executive director for the California Educational Facilities Authority. Gomez chairs the Board of Advisers for the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State LA and is the president of the Board of Directors of the Western Justice Center. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) and master’s degrees in political science and public administration, as well as a Ph.D. in political science, from the University of Southern California (USC).

Current Term

2022 – 2025