President
Pepperdine University
Gash was appointed as the eighth president and chief executive of Pepperdine University in 2019 and is the first school alumnus to hold the role. Gash has worked at Pepperdine since 1999, most recently as the associate dean for strategic planning and external relations at the school’s Caruso School of Law. In 2025, under Gash’s leadership, Pepperdine University received a $7.5 million grant through an initiative from the Lilly Endowment Inc. to fund ministries in rural areas and small towns. As an activist for international justice reform, Gash cites friend and colleague Tumusiime Henry (then a young boy in Uganda who was wrongfully accused and imprisoned for murdering two people) as an inspiration. The story inspired a documentary called “REMAND.”
YEARS ON LA500: 7
