Dr. Vajra Watson named as Senior Associate Vice President for Placer Center
After an internal search and in concurrence with President Nelsen, it is my great pleasure to announce that Dr. Vajra Watson has been selected as the inaugural Senior Associate Vice President for the Sacramento State Center. The Placer Center, which broke ground last fall, will be the home of a 300-acre academic center which will allow Sacramento State to address higher education needs in Placer County while collaborating with Sierra College on a new model of higher education. Dr. Watson will begin the position in early July.
Since joining Sacramento State in the fall of 2020, Dr. Watson has demonstrated the kind of effective, innovative leadership that will be critical to the Placer Center’s success. She launched the Leading with Justice speaker series that drew thousands of participants from across the country, significantly increased applications to the doctoral program, and, along with our faculty, staff, and students, led our Doctorate in Education to #2 in the nation. She currently serves as Faculty Director for the Doctorate in Educational Leadership program. An announcement of Dr. Watson’s replacement at that position will be forthcoming.
This is part of a longer track-record of success. For twelve years, Dr. Watson served as the founding director of UC Davis Office of Research and Policy and created flagship programming that continues to thrive. Altogether, in her previous role, she secured over $7 million dollars in extramural funding to develop innovative models of community-university-school partnerships.
Dr. Watson is an astute leader and seasoned academic. She has published four books (her latest book is forthcoming with Cornell University Press) and dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Her research focuses on educational equity and transformative schooling. She has received several awards including Sacramento’s 40 Under 40 Leadership Award, the California Educational Research Association’s Annual Award, the Congressional Woman of the Year Award, the NBA Sacramento King’s Woman of Inspiration Award, and the American Educational Research Association’s Social Impact Award as well as AERA’s Social Justice Leadership Award.
Dr. Watson was chosen from a strong pool of candidates for the position by a hiring committee comprised of a wide range of stakeholders including representatives from Sierra College, community leaders, and Sac State faculty and staff. The committee agreed she is a visionary leader who will connect theory to practice and help us actualize our collective goals. With Dr. Watson leading the way, Sacramento State Placer Center is positioned to grow a holistic model of interdisciplinary ingenuity and innovation for generations to come.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Watson as she steps into this new and important role. To learn more about this work, please visit the Placer Center website.
Carlos Nevarez
Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
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