Research Universities

Maresi Nerad

SERU Senior Researcher, Professor Emerita, Higher Education, University of Washington, Seattle

Maresi Nerad is the founding director of the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE) and a full Professor (tenured) for Higher Education, in the Leadership in Higher Education Program, College of Education, at the University of Washington, Seattle. A native of Germany, Dr. Nerad received her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley; directed research in the central Graduate Division of UC Berkeley, served as Dean in Residence at the Council of Graduate Schools, D.C., and as Associate Dean of the UW central Graduate School. She was appointed as...

Robert C. May

Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Philosophy & Linguistics, UC Davis

Robert C. May is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Linguistics at UC Davis. He received his Ph.D. in Linguistics and Philosophy from MIT in 1977, and his Bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College. Prof. May joined the UC Irvine faculty in 1986, and moved to UC Davis in 2006. He held the Venice Chair in Philosophy of Language and Theoretical Linguistics, a Fulbright Distinguished Professorship, and visiting positions at Columbia University, Ecole Normale Superieure, and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.


Prof. May’s research interests span areas in...

Gary Matkin

Former Dean of Continuing Education, University of California, Irvine
Former Dean, Continuing Education, Distance Learning, and Summer Session Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1989, Education M.B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1970, Political Aspects of Business B.S., University of San Francisco, 1966, Accounting Certified Public Accountant (inactive), 1966, California License E14426 Other Experience Associate Dean, CE, UC Berkeley 1990-2000 Director, Admin Services, UC Berkeley 1975-1990 Business Officer, UC Berkeley 1973-1975 CPA, Various 1966-1973 Download Gary W....

Cristina González

Professor Emerita, School of Education & Department of Spanish, UC Davis
Education

Ph.D., Spanish – Indiana University, Bloomington – 1981

Select Publications Books

Clark Kerr's University of California: Leadership, Diversity and Planning in Higher Education (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2011).

Articles “Higher Education Reasserts its Role as a Public Good,” University World News, 422, July 15, 2016. Liliana Pedraja, Co-Author. “Privatization and Access: The Chilean Higher Education Experiment and Its Discontents,” Research and Occasional Papers Series, Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California, Berkeley, CSHE...

George Blumenthal

Former Director, Center for Studies in Higher Education and Chancellor Emeritus, UC Santa Cruz

George R. Blumenthal served as Director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education from 2019 until 2023. He continues his involvement with CSHE as Affiliated Faculty and as a member of the ELA Advisory Board.

Blumenthal was UC Santa Cruz's 10th chancellor. He joined the campus in 1972 as a faculty member in astronomy and astrophysics and was named chancellor on September 19, 2007, after serving as acting chancellor for 14 months.

The Blumenthal era has been marked by a commitment to ensuring that the doors of opportunity at UC Santa Cruz are open to all:

The number...

Sheldon Rothblatt

Professor of History Emeritus, UC Berkeley, former Director, CSHE

Professor Rothblatt is Professor of History Emeritus and former Director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley. He was educated at Berkeley and King's College, Cambridge University, and has an honorary degree from Gothenburg University in Sweden. He has been honored by the Swedish king as Knight Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star, Sweden’s highest award to foreigners other than heads of state. Besides his career at Berkeley, he has taught at Monash University in Australia, Stanford University, the University of Vienna, New York...

C. Judson King, Sc.D.

Former CSHE Director; Provost and Sr. Vice President, Emeritus - university-wide; and Professor Emeritus of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

C. Judson King served as the director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education from 2004 - 2014. He is currently a CSHE faculty associate and professor emeritus of chemical and biomolecular engineering. At the Center, his research has focused on systemic and institutional concerns as well as issues specific to engineering and technical disciplines. His chemical engineering research has centered upon separation processes, including spray drying, freeze drying, solvent extraction, and adsorption.

Since joining the University of California in 1963, King has served in a variety of...

Ami Zusman

Former Coordinator of Graduate Education Planning & Analysis, University of California system, UCOP

Ami Zusman previously served as Coordinator of Graduate Education Planning and Analysis for the University of California system, where she directed graduate and professional education planning and policy, as well as student outcomes assessment. She developed long-range graduate enrollment plans for the UC system, created instruments to measure and compare graduate student success, and was the lead UC liaison for the National Research Council’s assessment of doctoral programs, among other activities. Ami also authored or was principal staff for University-wide reports on interdisciplinary...

Aray Saniyazova

SERU-International Research Associate

Aray Saniyazova is a SERU-International Research Associate. She holds a Master’s degree in education from Vanderbilt University (2011), and PhD in education from Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan (2017).

Her research interests focus on contemporary issues of higher education: transition from high school to university; student experience and college climate; gender issues in education; institutional development of newly established universities. She was involved in the collaborative research project of the Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education and the University of...

Rahul Choudaha

Senior Researcher - SERU Consortium

Dr. Rahul Choudaha is a Senior Researcher affiliated with the SERU Consortium. As a scholar-practitioner, Choudaha’s applied research focuses on mobility, experiences and enrollment of international students and its implications for internationalization and global engagement strategies. He has worked for nearly 15 years in global education services organizations and held cross-functional leadership roles including Executive Vice President at Studyportals and Chief Knowledge Officer at World Education Services. Choudaha...