President, Cal Poly Pomona

Coley become Cal Poly Pomona’s sixth president in 2015. She is the first woman to lead the polytechnical university campus in its 73-year history. Today, the university has roughly 29,100 students and 1,500 faculty. In March, the university reported receiving a record 64,281 applications for the 2022-23 academic year. Last June, author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott and her husband, Dan Jewitt, gifted $40 million. Previously, Coley served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University – Bakersfield. In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Coley to the state’s Future of Work Commission, whose mission is to make recommendations about harnessing technology, innovation and lifelong learning.

YEARS ON THE LA500: 5