Dear Friends,

It gives me great pleasure to share that the Board of Trustees has selected Matt Parlow to serve as Chapman’s 14th president, effective Sept. 2, 2025, following the planned retirement of current president Daniele Struppa from the Office of the President.

The appointment comes following a multi-month national search seeking a leader who is innovative, collaborative, and passionate; possesses a track record of teaching, scholarship, and professional experience in higher ed; and brings senior administrative leadership experience, high integrity, and relationship-building skills.

Matt exemplifies these qualities of transformative leadership, with more than 20 years in higher education and strong roots and achievements at Chapman University. Over his 12 years at Chapman, Matt has been instrumental in propelling the institution toward becoming one of the nation’s elite academic universities as a member of executive leadership and an administrator-scholar. Currently serving as executive vice president, chief advancement officer and the Parker S. Kennedy Chair in Law, he has led Inspire: The Campaign for Chapman University that has raised more than $400 million to date—the largest and most ambitious fundraising initiative in the university’s history. Prior to this position, Matt enhanced the standing and performance of the Dale E. Fowler School of Law while serving as the dean and Donald P. Kennedy Chair in Law. His accomplishments, among many, include improving the school’s U.S. News & World Report ranking by more than 20 spots and recruiting the most diverse and high-performing classes in the law school’s history.

Beyond securing Chapman’s financial future, Matt has forged strong connections with business, civic and community leaders, creating opportunities that benefit students, faculty and academic programs, as well as our local community and economy. His leadership reflects an enduring commitment to community engagement and building relationships that extend Chapman’s positive impact.

“Chapman has a tradition of truly excellent leaders, most notably Daniele Struppa and, before him, Jim Doti. I am proud to follow in their footsteps,” Matt said. “Over the last 30 years, we’ve transformed this university in ways that are the envy of all of higher education. Yet, with where we stand today, there’s still incredible potential and opportunity ahead of us that makes for a really exciting future.

“To me, this is also personal. I love Chapman. It’s been a home for me in so many ways. It’s a community I am deeply connected to, with so many people I care so much about. Chapman is special. I believe in our mission and the collective work that we do together that makes an impact on our students and the community. It will be my true honor to work with all of you in the role of president to elevate Chapman to help us achieve all our ambitious goals and to deepen our mission.”

Before joining Chapman, Matt served as a professor and an associate dean for academic affairs at Marquette University Law School, where he improved the school’s skills-based course selection and employment ranking and taught property, land use, legislation and sports law—his area of academic expertise which he co-taught with Major League Baseball Commissioner Emeritus Bud Selig.

Earlier in his career, he practiced law at the prominent firm Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips and clerked for Judge Pamela Ann Rymer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He also worked in the White House’s Office of the Legal Counsel and for the Office of Mayor Richard J. Riordan as a press deputy and policy analyst in Los Angeles, his hometown. He earned his undergraduate degree in history from Loyola Marymount University and his J.D. from Yale Law School.

Matt is married to Janine Kim, the Wylie A. Aitken Professor of Law, Race, and Social Justice at the Dale E. Fowler School of Law. They have two daughters, Maya and Hannah, and a beloved dog, Maisy.

As we approach this milestone transition, we offer Daniele Struppa our ongoing and abiding gratitude for his numerous contributions to Chapman over the last two decades, including elevating the institution’s rank and reputation, enriching and extending our research program and leading us through change and challenge. President Struppa will return to the faculty in September, so we expect to see his impact endure. Until then, he will continue to advance Chapman’s mission and strategic plan and will begin a thoughtful and thorough period of transition and knowledge transfer to his successor.

Chapman’s position for the future could not be stronger, as emphasized by Board of Trustees Chairman Parker S. Kennedy in an email to the campus community earlier today when he announced Matt’s selection. We have leadership and financial strength, an amazing faculty and staff, an unmatched location, the right balance of tradition and innovation that students seek, and programs and facilities that are second to none.

I hope you will join me in congratulating Matt, a beloved member of our Chapman Family, as our next president.

Sincerely,

Alisa Driscoll (M.A. ’19)
Vice President, Community Relations