From the President: Update on Leadership Searches

Dear campus community, 

I am delighted to announce the successful conclusion of two leadership searches. Jeff Wilson has been appointed as San Francisco State University’s vice president for Administration and Finance and Noriko Lim-Tepper as Chief of Staff to the president. I am extremely grateful to the search committees and all the members of the campus community who took time out of a busy and challenging semester to participate in the search processes and share their thoughts on all the talented candidates for these important roles.

Jeff has served at SF State since 2017 and has nearly 15 years of experience in the California State University system. He has been a steady hand as the interim vice president for Administration and Finance since March 2019 and previously served as the associate vice president for fiscal affairs.

One year into the pandemic, our University has the lowest infection rate of any CSU campus other than the much-smaller CSU Maritime Academy and the Office of the Chancellor. As a member of the Pandemic Planning Group and leader of the Budget & Logistics working group, Jeff has been crucial in the development and implementation of our successful response to this global health crisis.

Jeff also led the effort to find areas where it was feasible to reduce certain student fees during remote instruction and operations and co-chaired the University Budget Committee during its transition from an information-sharing organization to an inclusive committee working with students, faculty, and staff.

Noriko has served as the interim chief of staff since September of 2019. She previously served as director of Government and Community Relations at San Francisco State from 2016-2019. Noriko played a critical role in our negotiations with city leadership to allow academic courses which require irreplicable hands-on experiences to continue in person during the pandemic. 

She has also built strong partnerships with Associated Students regarding fee transparency, campus climate, Black Lives Matter initiatives and coalition building to advocate for campus issues with local government officials. Noriko was instrumental in working with city leaders to prioritize the campus community during the city’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout. She has extensive experience in state government, including serving as senior field representative for California State Assemblyman Phil Ting. 

I am confident that Jeff and Noriko will continue to demonstrate their leadership, creativity and initiative in service of our students and our University. Join me in welcoming them and previously-announced Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Jamillah Moore, who will be joining us on July 1. 

Thank you again for all participated in these important searches.

Best,

Lynn Mahoney, Ph.D.

President