Dr. Corey Cook is the Vice President and CEO of Cal Poly Solano Campus (formerly California State University Maritime Academy), a role he assumed July 1, 2025. A political scientist with deep roots in Bay Area politics, Cook brings decades of academic leadership experience from Saint Mary's College of California (where he served as Executive Vice President and Provost) and Boise State University (where he founded the School of Public Service). With bachelor's degrees from UC Berkeley and a doctorate from Wisconsin, Cook is a go-to political analyst on KTVU News and has contributed to national outlets including The Atlantic, making him one of the few higher-education executives who regularly shapes public political discourse.
Nicholas B. Dirks runs the New York Academy of Sciences, one of the oldest scientific organizations in the United States. A historian and anthropologist by training, he led UC Berkeley as its 10th chancellor, chaired anthropology at Columbia, and writes books about empire, caste, and the future of the university.