CLU names seventh president

Chris Kimball, provost and vice president for academic affairs, California Lutheran University, has been named the school's seventh president and will take over April 1.

Kimball came to CLU in 2006 after serving as provost and dean of faculty at Augsburg College, a Lutheran university in Minneapolis. He had served on the faculty at Augsburg since 1991.

"Chris is a man of integrity and a man of action," said Bill Kane, chair of the Board of Regents. "With his distinguished career as a leader and scholar and his passion for Lutheran higher education, he embodies the academic excellence of CLU and is uniquely qualified for the tasks ahead."

Kimball was chief architect of CLU's new strategic plan, a blueprint for the next four years. Its focus is on attracting and retaining highquality faculty, staff and students and raising money for state-of-the-art facilities.

"Chris' leadership will be crucial to CLU's continued success as we approach our second half-century," said Karen Bornemann Spies, a regent and the chair of the presidential search committee.

Kimball received his doctoral degree from University of Chicago and completed his undergraduate studies at McGill University in Montreal. He and his wife, Liz, and their two children are members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks.

Kimball will replace the Rev. Howard Wennes, who has served as interim president since July when John Sladek resigned.

- Joann Groff