Cal State Fullerton administrator Amir Dabirian was appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs, effective immediately.
As vice president for information technology and chief information officer, Dabirian’s vision of technological innovation has transformed the university into a model 21st-century learning environment. Dabirian, who joined the university in 1985, will serve a two-year term as provost, while national searches for a permanent university president and provost are completed.
In his March 9 announcement, President Fram Virjee emphasized the campus’s need for stability of leadership to assure sustained momentum as the university transitions from its current strategic plan to the next.
As a University Strategic Planning Committee member, Dabirian helped shape the current and previous strategic plans. He has also served 15 terms on the Academic Senate and 17 terms on the Planning, Resource and Budget Committee. Under Dabirian’s leadership, the Division of Information Technology has focused on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the division and across campus.
A two-time Cal State Fullerton alumnus, Dabirian earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. He also holds a master’s degree in computer science from UC Riverside and a doctorate in industrial economics and management from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. As a professor of marketing in the College of Business and Economics, Dabirian has taught 38 different courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
“It is Dr. Dabirian’s well-earned reputation among faculty, staff and students as a collaborative and caring partner, a transparent and welcoming leader with a selfless devotion to our institution, and a Titan that walks the walk, that both made him the person recommended for this position over and over, and broadly across the campus, and the clear choice for this new challenge,” Virjee said.
Rommel Hidalgo, who has served as associate vice president for information technology/innovation, was appointed to a two-year term as vice president for information technology.
Hidalgo’s extensive experience includes infrastructure services, involvement in university and enterprise projects, participation in long- and short-term IT strategic planning, working across divisions to promote equitable and inclusive technology innovation, and implementation of large-scale initiatives to enable efficiencies and business growth through the creative use of information technology.
Hidalgo earned his master’s degree in business administration-management science and information systems from Cal State Fullerton and teaches in the College of Business and Economics.