Mike Pelly

Mike Pelly is the Vice President and Dean of Enrollment at Chapman University in Orange California. Previously he served as the Director of Undergraduate Admission and held various positions within the enrollment management division at Chapman University where he has worked since 1986.

As VP of Enrollment, Mike manages the offices of Admission, Financial Aid, and Registrar; and he serves on three sub-committees of Chapman University Board of Trustees’ including Finance and Budget, Academic, and Student Life.

Mike was elected and served the Board of Directors for the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), a membership organization with over 16,000 members dedicated to supporting student access to postsecondary education. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Community Foundation of Orange, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the communities of Orange and Villa Park, CA. As a former faculty member for the College Board Summer Institute at UC Santa Cruz, he taught new admission personnel about the profession and ethical standards of college admissions.

In his early years at Chapman, Mike founded the men’s lacrosse team and served as head coach for five years. He was named WCLL coach of the year and was ultimately inducted into the LA Chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

He received his B.A. in Political Science at Whittier College and his M.S. in Human Resource Management at Chapman University Argyros School of Business and Economics. He resides in Villa Park, CA with his wife Sara and their Chocolate Lab, Orvis. In their spare time they enjoy fly fishing and individually, he enjoys restoring classic cars while she enjoys driving them.