Dr. Blenda Wilson, CSUN President, 1992-1999

April 29, 2025

Blenda Jacqueline Wilson is a retired educator and a higher education and philanthropic executive. The third president of CSUN, Wilson was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, about 20 miles south of New York City. She grew up with her family in Woodbridge, New Jersey, earning a bachelor’s degree in English from Cedar Crest College, a master’s degree from Seton Hall University, and a Ph.D. from Boston College. President Wilson participating in the Homecoming Parade, October 30, 1994, Sunburst, LD729.C99 S8 1994 The major influences on Wilson’s life includes her parents, Horace Lawrence Wilson and Margaret Brogsdale Wilson, her grandparents, and her biological and foster siblings. In Dr. Wilson’s oral history interview, influences in her life also include the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, Girl Scouts, and her high school English teacher. Wilson also took part in the historic 1963 March on Washington with a high school friend, and witnessed the “I have a dream” speech.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in 1962, she taught in the Woodbridge school district for 3 years. At the time, she had two uncles that were police officers in the community. The mayor of Woodbridge wanted to set up a Head Start program in town and had heard good things about Wilson. She agreed to write a grant proposal that would be submitted to the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), a federal agency created by Lyndon B. Johnson’s Administration. The grant proposal was successful, and she became an instant educational administrator. Throughout this time, Wilson was head of the Middlesex County Economic Opportunity Corporation (MCEOC).

After her time at the MCEOC, Wilson moved on to Rutgers University where she created a transitional educational program for students who were disadvantaged. After Rutgers, Wilson went to work with John W. Gardner at his advocacy group, Common Cause. Wilson worked as the Vice-president for effective sector management. In her position, she traveled a lot with Gardner on his speaking engagements to discuss leadership with nonprofit executives. After a few years, Wilson moved on to be the Executive Director with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. In 1988, Wilson was appointed Chancellor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Under her leadership, the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus became an option for many inner-city youth and Arab Americans who might not have previously considered college a possibility.

President Wilson working on reconstruction with a land line, Spring 1994, University Archives Photograph Collection, Box 46 In the fall of 1991, James Cleary announced his plans for retirement as President of California State University, Northridge, and Wilson was appointed as the third President of California State University, Northridge in September of 1992. She was the first African-American women to become president of a large (over 25,000 students) American university. As Wilson joined the CSUN campus, the 1992 California budget crisis had just ended with the signing of a lean state budget, and the possibility of CSUN faculty layoffs set off a firestorm of criticism. Wilson weathered her critics and the financial difficulties.

At 4:30am on Monday January 17, 1994, Wilson faced one of the most difficult situations of her life: the Northridge Earthquake. At the time of the earthquake, she was at a vacation property a few hours north of Los Angeles. Wilson spent the next five years working on repairing the damage to the 356-acre Cal State Northridge campus.

To learn more about Dr. Blenda Wilson’s life and work, the CSUN Leaders Oral History Project Collection is a good place to start. Plus, the University Archives Photograph Collection contains photographs documenting Dr. Wilson’s work at CSUN. The Office of the President Records has material documenting Wilsons’s accomplishments at CSUN. Secondary sources can also be helpful such as the Sundial, Sunburst, Insight, and Northridge.