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Chapman president highlights university’s growth in final annual address

March 1, 2025

Chapman University President Daniele Struppa on Friday, Feb. 28, delivered his final State of the University address after a near-decade leading the school, celebrating its growth and rise in the ranks of higher education.

The address had a theme of finality for Struppa, who is stepping down in September. It was one last time for him to show Chapman leadership, faculty, staff, students and donors how much the university has grown over the past decade and the new initiatives underway.

Chapman’s endowment has eclipsed $800 million, Struppa highlighted, more than double what it was a decade ago — fueled by the school’s recent fundraising spree.

A bigger endowment, Struppa said, allows the school to weather financial challenges better and pursue new educational programs.

“I think that’s a big success story,” Struppa said. “The reason why this number is so important is we’ve been able to face significant challenges over and over again, and do very well every time.”

Struppa delivered his speech at the school’s Musco Center for the Arts and thanked his colleagues before he retires as the university’s president and returns to its mathematics faculty. He spoke about how Chapman has risen in the U.S. News & World Report’s national university ranking to number 121 and the school is knocking on the door of the highest research classification designated by the Carnegie Foundation.

Some of those research investments will be showcased when the school opens its new home for quantum and advanced physics studies later this year.

The university will have spent more than $70 million to purchase the historic Killefer School from Orange Unified — it was the first campus in California to desegregate — and preserve and renovate it to “house some of the most advanced quantum research.”

Struppa acknowledged some of the challenges faced in recent years, including shepherding the university through the coronavirus pandemic and the botched rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid by the U.S. Department of Education.

That delay in financial aid awards caused the school to lose some enrollment over the last year, Struppa said. To further address budget issues caused by the drop in enrollment, the university closed 20 open positions and used some of its endowment.

Struppa was reminded of another of those challenges on Friday when his speech was interrupted at separate times by four different pro-Palestinian protestors. As with several universities, Chapman saw an encampment develop with students entrenched for about two weeks just before graduation in May.

Struppa picked back up with his remarks, saying he, too, was a big protestor when he was in college.

Matt Parlow, Chapman’s executive vice president and chief advancement officer, will become the school’s new president in September. Struppa will take a sabbatical and then return to the school’s mathematics faculty.

“I don’t think the university could be in better hands,” Struppa said.

Parlow had been a dean of Chapman’s law school and in recent years ran its fundraising campaigns. Midway through the State of the University address, Struppa welcomed Larlow onstage to deliver the final half of the address.

Parlow spoke about Chapman’s efforts to help Orange County high school students. One program, fueled by a $5 million grant from CalOptima, will fund scholarships for students from under-resourced backgrounds to attend Chapman’s physician assistant program in return for committing to work in the county following graduation.

Chapman University named Matt Parlow its 14th president in Orange, CA on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Parlow ended his remarks by thanking Struppa and saying there was no playbook for many of the challenges encountered by the school, and with his leadership Chapman came out of them stronger.

“The president’s job is really hard,” Parlow said. “I see that every day working with him, and yet he always keeps his cool. He cares so deeply about the people he works with, about the students that we serve, the alumni who come back and stay engaged with the university, he really cares about people. It’s genuine.”

Chapman president highlights university’s growth in final annual address Orange County Register

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Chapman president highlights university’s growth in final annual address

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