SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Big West announced that Lynnette Zelezny Ph.D., MBA, President of California State University, Bakersfield was elected Chair of the Board of Directors for 2023-24 during The Big West annual spring meeting, held May 24-26 in San Diego, Calif. Zelezny will replace incoming Chair, University of California, Davis Chancellor Gary S. May when his term ends on June 30, 2023. May was elected last year and will begin his term as chair on July 1, 2022. May succeeds outgoing chair, Framroze M. Virjee, President of California State University, Fullerton. 

Gary May became the seventh Chancellor of University of California, Davis in 2017 and leads the most comprehensive campus in the University of California system, with four colleges and six professional schools. UC Davis enrolls more than 39,000 students, brings in nearly $986 million annually in sponsored research and contributes at least $8 billion annually to California’s economy.  

In 2010, May was named “outstanding engineering alumnus” of UC Berkeley, where he earned his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

Lynnette Zelezny was appointed to serve as the fifth president of California State University, Bakersfield, effective July 1, 2018. Dr. Zelezny is the first woman to serve in the role.

Zelezny came to CSUB from Fresno State University where she served in a variety of roles from 1988 to 2014. She served as provost and vice president of academic affairs prior to her appointment at CSUB. In that capacity she was also the campus' chief academic officer.  

A product of the CSU, Zelezny earned bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology from Humboldt State University, a Ph.D. in applied social psychology from Claremont Graduate University and an M.B.A. with distinction from the Craig School of Business at Fresno State. She has also earned professional certificates in management from Harvard University and in executive leadership from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

"Gary May and Lynnette Zelezny are emblematic of the Board’s strong commitment to athletic and academic excellence. Their strong leadership will be critical as The Big West navigates the transformational change taking place within the NCAA,” Commissioner Dan Butterly said. “I would like to thank Cal State Fullerton President Fram Virjee for his guidance, despite a rapidly changing environment that presented a host of new challenges in 2021-22.” 

The Big West is an NCAA Division I member with 11 members with the shared goal of empowering every student-athlete in competition and in life and uniting its university communities through championship experiences. Formed in 1969, The Big West membership consists of Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Hawai‘i, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. The Big West is united in the pursuit of boundless opportunities, enduring integrity, bold activism, fearless innovation and the pacific spirit of freedom, exploration and progress. 
 
The Big West sponsors 18 sports at the NCAA Division I level: baseball, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, women’s beach volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field and women’s water polo. For more information, visit BigWest.org or follow The Big West on Twitter @BigWestSports.