Jake Zhu, Ph.D.

Dean, Palm Desert Campus

California State University, San Bernardino

Dr. Zhu became the fifth dean of the Palm Desert Campus of the Cal State San Bernardino in July of 2019. As dean, he is responsible for the delivery of academic programs, student success, campus growth and operations, and community engagement.

Prior to joining the Palm Desert Campus, Dr. Zhu served as the interim dean of the CSUSB College of Education, where he managed a total budget of more than $20 million dollars. He was responsible for the delivery of a regional high-quality education and teacher preparation program, including six different teaching credentials, sixteen master’s programs and a doctoral program in educational leadership.

Dr. Zhu’s previous administrative and leadership roles include six years as chair of the Department of Information and Decision Sciences (IDS) at CSUSB from 2009 to 2015, and three years of leadership capacity as the Associate Dean in the Jack H. Brown College (JHBC) of Business and Public Administration. In 2016, Dr. Zhu received an American Council on Education Fellowship and worked closely with the president of New Jersey City University and her senior administrators.

As the Associate Dean of the JHBC, Dr. Zhu led many initiatives, including the Graduation Initiative (GI) 2025, the AACSB Accreditation, the Quarter to Semester (Q2S) conversion, as well as faculty development and curriculum innovation. He also directed the college’s Student Service Center and was the interim director of the MBA program.

In his role as department chair, Dr. Zhu led the CSU system’s approval of a Bachelor of Science degree in information systems and technology. During his tenure, the faculty in his department successfully brought in more than $6 million of grant funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Homeland Security for program capacity building and student scholarships. They collaborated with high schools, school districts and junior colleges to develop transfer curriculum and programs, as well as create pipelines for transfer students. As a result, his department’s enrollment doubled from 2009 to 2015.