{"id":197281,"date":"2026-02-28T00:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T00:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197281\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T00:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T00:29:11","slug":"chapman-university-tops-1-billion-in-endowments-and-reaches-new-academic-heights-school-president-announces-in-first-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197281\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapman University tops $1 billion in endowments and reaches new academic heights, school president announces in first address"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his first State of the University address, Chapman University President Matt Parlow<\/a> celebrated student and faculty achievements,\u00a0previewed new programs and announced a major milestone: the school\u2019s endowment has, for the first time in its history, crossed the $1 billion mark.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you can see, the state of our university is incredibly strong, we\u2019re going to continue with that,\u201d Parlow said in his Friday, Feb. 27, address, eliciting thunderous applause from the audience as confetti rained down.<\/p>\n

\"Shari<\/p>\n

Shari Battle, left, senior vice-president Bank of America Orange County, and Allen Staff, president Bank of America Orange County, center, are interviewed by Amy Rogen-Mehta, executive vice-president and chief of staff Chapman University, during the State of the University event held at Musco Center for the Arts in Orange on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Confetti<\/p>\n

Confetti drops as Matt Parlow, president of Chapman University, finishes delivering his first State of the University address at Musco Center for the Arts in Orange on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Klein<\/p>\n

Klein Legacy Foundation scholars Azul Lopez, Levi Black, Jacob Zamora, and Fiona Bumgarner, from left, receive their awards from Jessica Berger, Chapman University chief advancement officer during the State of the University event at Musco Center for the Arts in Orange on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Parlow, president of Chapman University delivers his first State of the University address at Musco Center for the Arts in Orange on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Parlow, president Chapman University, ends his State of the University address held at Musco Center for the Arts in Orange on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Parlow, president of Chapman University delivers his first State of the University at Musco Center for the Arts in Orange on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Klein<\/p>\n

Klein Legacy Foundation founder Christine Cross, left, is honored by foundation scholars Azul Lopez, Levi Black, Jacob Zamora, and Fiona Bumgarner, from left, during the State of the University event held at Musco Center for the Arts in Orange on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 7<\/p>\n

Shari Battle, left, senior vice-president Bank of America Orange County, and Allen Staff, president Bank of America Orange County, center, are interviewed by Amy Rogen-Mehta, executive vice-president and chief of staff Chapman University, during the State of the University event held at Musco Center for the Arts in Orange on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

During the hour-long address, delivered at Chapman\u2019s Musco Center for the Arts in Orange, the new president highlighted the school\u2019s continued upward academic trajectory, including its rise to number 110 in U.S. News & World Report\u2019s latest annual college rankings \u2014 a 10% improvement from the year before. The ranking is the highest Chapman has achieved, Parlow said, and puts it in the top 25% of the 434 national universities included in the U.S. News report.<\/p>\n

Parlow made special mention of the academic achievements of graduating students who become teachers, pharmacists and physician\u2019s assistants, reflecting the school\u2019s contributions to health care and education. He also celebrated wide-ranging accomplishments of esteemed alumni, including three Major League Baseball broadcasters and a script coordinator who brought to life the hit \u201cSpider-Verse\u201d franchise, as well as two backup dancers for pop superstar Taylor Swift during her sold-out Eras Tour.<\/p>\n

Parlow, the former executive vice president and chief advancement officer<\/a>, took the helm as Chapman\u2019s 14th president in October<\/a>, following the retirement Daniele Struppa<\/a>, who led the university for nearly a decade. As president, Parlow is steering an institution with more than 10,000 students and 2,000 faculty and staff across 11 schools and colleges, including nationally recognized programs in film, law, business and health sciences.<\/p>\n

A Los Angeles-native and Yale-educated lawyer, Parlow previously served as Chapman\u2019s law school dean and chief fundraiser. During his speech Friday, Parlow highlighted the strength of the school\u2019s various fundraising efforts, including the newest Inspire Campaign, which has raised $480 million in the past three years \u2014 just $20 million shy of an ambitious target of $500 million<\/a>\u00a0by 2028.<\/p>\n

Parlow announced Friday that Christine Cross, a long-time Chapman donor, has committed another $20 million to fund need-based scholarships, pushing the school\u2019s endowment past $1 billion.<\/p>\n

In addition to continued investments in research and academic initiatives, Parlow said Chapman will be devoting resources to community engagement programs. The university this month launched the Or Initiative, backed by a nearly $2 million fund from the Samueli Foundation, that is focusing on fostering civil discourse among young people<\/a>. The initiative will develop a curriculum for public schools to help students navigate an increasingly polarized political landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cChapman values and stands by free speech,\u201d Parlow said. \u201cThat\u2019s something society as a whole is struggling with right now. We can be a national leader in that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his first State of the University address, Chapman University President Matt Parlow celebrated student and faculty achievements,\u00a0previewed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,7,17700,179,15,23,100,171,611,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-197281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-chapman-university","13":"tag-community","14":"tag-education","15":"tag-local-news","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-orange","18":"tag-orange-county","19":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}