Edward Inch

Edward Inch is the 13th President of Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Prior to being named President, Dr. Inch served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, East Bay, a highly diverse, student-centered, community-engaged university with more than 14,500 students and 850 faculty.

At Cal State East Bay, he focused on improving student outcomes, reducing equity gaps, and increasing access. Some of his accomplishments include leading the redesign of advising and student support services and developing the university’s enrollment management plan, “Strategic Plan for Equitable Student Success,” which yielded a bold, comprehensive, campus-wide strategy to equitably support students from admission through their lifetime as adult learners. He also initiated a tenure track equity hiring program focusing on recruiting and retaining culturally competent professors to reduce equity gaps, support access initiatives, and improve gateway course instruction.

From 2011 to 2016, he served California State University, Sacramento as dean of the College of Arts and Letters, where he led an academic unit comprised of 10 departments enrolling more than 29,000 students. His accomplishments in this role include collaborating with faculty, staff, students, and community partners to design and write the university strategic plan, developing processes to improve the diversity of staff and faculty applicant pools, and collaborating with faculty leadership to improve College retention and graduation rates.

Other engagements include serving Capital University (OH) as provost and vice president for academic affairs (2009 to 2010) and Pacific Lutheran University (1986 to 2009) in several capacities, including dean of the School of Arts and Communication, chair of the Department of Communication and Theatre, and director of forensics.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University, a master’s from the University of Oregon, and a doctorate from the University of Washington.