Commencement SPEAKER
Thomas A . Parham , Ph . D .
Thomas A . Parham , Ph . D ., is a family man who resides in Southern California with his wife , Davida . Dr . Parham is the 11th president of California State University , Dominguez Hills ( CSUDH ), a highly diverse , metropolitan university primarily serving the South Central and South Bay areas of Los Angeles County . Established in 1960 , CSUDH is one of the 23 campuses that comprise the California State University system , the largest system of public higher education in the nation .
Dr . Parham previously served as vice chancellor of student affairs and an adjunct faculty member at the University of California , Irvine , where he had been since 1985 . Before then , he held an appointment on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania .
For the past 40-plus years , Dr . Parham has focused his research efforts in the area of psychological nigrescence and has authored or co-authored six books and 45-50 journal articles and book chapters . He has sustained a scholarly focus in the areas of racial identity development , African psychology , and multicultural counseling .
Dr . Parham grew up in Southern California and received his bachelor ’ s degree in social ecology from the University of California , Irvine , his master ’ s degree in counseling psychology at Washington University in St . Louis , and his Ph . D . in counseling psychology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale . He is licensed to practice psychology in California .
In addition to his duties as president , Dr . Parham remains an active member of the community , contributing his talents in the areas of social advocacy , community uplift , and youth empowerment .
Full bio available at www . csudh . edu