Tom Jackson, Jr.

A Legacy of Transformation and Innovation

TOM JACKSON, JR. has achieved many “firsts.” He is the first in his family to earn a college degree. He was the first African American president of Cal Poly Humboldt. And he was the president who spearheaded the University’s effort to become a polytechnic—the first in Northern California.

These and other inspiring firsts have been the hallmarks of Jackson’s run as president of Cal Poly Humboldt, which ended when he made the decision to step away from his position in August.

His departure caps a five-year tenure that saw a dramatic reshaping of the University, paving the way for innovative academic programs, new infrastructure, community collaborations, and record-breaking fundraising to support students.

When Jackson first experienced Humboldt, he was struck by the region’s natural and cultural beauty–the redwoods, the oceans, the community. That sense of place and sense of community remained a source of inspiration for him.

“Cal Poly Humboldt is an amazing place with special people. I have had the privilege to work alongside scientists and future scientists, teachers and future teachers, artists and future artists, engineers and future engineers, and leaders and future leaders. I wake up every day and remember what a gift I have been given: to have the opportunity to inspire and lead others,” says Jackson.

Jackson is moving to his tenured professorship in the College of Professional Studies, where he will also work with the College of Extended Education & Global Engagement at Cal Poly Humboldt.

It’s a fitting transition for Jackson, whose higher education career has spanned nearly 40 years. He served 18 years as both a dean and a vice president at a number of institutions. Over the last decade, he served as president of Cal Poly Humboldt and, prior to that, Black Hills State University in South Dakota.

From the beginning of his time at Humboldt, Jackson encouraged the University to raise its sights, innovate and lead, find the good in people, and always focus on providing a positive and meaningful educational experience for students, including improving the residential experiences for students moving to the North Coast.

His visionary leadership resulted in one of the most significant transformative efforts in University history. The conversion to a polytechnic, along with the historic state investment of $458 million to help bring the plans to reality, will have a positive impact on the campus and community for generations to come. Within just a few years, Cal Poly Humboldt has added nine new bachelor’s degrees and a new master’s degree and is building a new residence hall complex that will house nearly 1,000 students.

Construction is poised to begin on a new Engineering & Technology Building, which will be the signature new academic facility of the polytechnic effort. Polytechnic funding and other efforts have also supported the acquisition of new properties, a state-of-the-art replacement for the Coral Sea research vessel, and updates to campus labs. Additional new academic programs will be added over the next six years, including those in the engineering and healthcare fields. A new facility to support sustainability efforts and additional campus housing are also in the works.

Jackson has led a significant expansion of outreach by the University including a new brand that showcases academic excellence and opportunities for student engagement. He has led growth in important funding in support of students. This has included a doubling of the amount of research grants and contracts to more than $67 million annually, one of the highest in the 23-campus CSU system. The University has also seen record levels of support from alumni and others. It recently completed its first comprehensive fundraising campaign, Boldly Rising, with more than 10,000 donors giving well over the campaign goal of $50 million to support scholarships, academic programs, and other campus priorities.

Budget and enrollment have been a focus throughout Jackson’s tenure, as the University had experienced a number of years of declining enrollment and resources. The campus successfully balanced budgets after climbing out of a substantial $25 million deficit. Overall enrollment has turned around and is about to enter its third straight year of growth, even as many campuses throughout the nation struggle with declines. Overall applications by new students have reached record levels. In addition, a variety of efforts have led to more students staying in school and graduating.

Community outreach and engagement have been a major priority for Jackson. He has built trust and launched partnerships with the region’s Tribal Nations, which he cites as “generational work” and among his most important successes. He has also worked closely with President Keith Flamer and College of the Redwoods to forge a model relationship between a two-year and a four-year institution. Both Jackson and President Flamer are proud military veterans and have strongly supported veteran students.

Jackson spent significant time and energy with outreach to regional government leaders at all levels as well as community organizations, including Chambers of Commerce. He has involved the University in important community development efforts, including wind power and undersea high-speed internet cable with a focus on educational needs, grants, and partnerships. In all of these community efforts, the goal was to engage individuals across campus in order to build deeper and broader connections.

An area of emphasis throughout Jackson’s career has been international education. He believes international competency will someday be considered as important as digital competency for college graduates and frequently speaks of Humboldt's potential for creating a “model global community.” Successes in this area include implementing the International Service Learning Program, with current offerings in both the Philippines and Mexico. In addition, the University recently signed an expansive new agreement to cooperate on research and more with Charles Darwin University in Australia, Blue Lake Rancheria, and College of the Redwoods. Cal Poly Humboldt will continue its international engagement with Cebu Technological University and Cebu Normal University, both located in the Philippines. Jackson, as a professor, hopes to help create a unique ISLP experience for graduate students.

Among the new programs launched in the last five years was a first-of-its-kind bachelor’s degree program at Pelican Bay State Prison, which is a partnership with College of the Redwoods and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Jackson oversaw the launch of fall commencement ceremonies so that more students and families would have a chance to participate in the important rite of passage, and then went a step further and added a regional commencement ceremony in the Los Angeles area. Jackson has said, “Not every family has a few thousand dollars to travel to Arcata for commencement, as much as they may want to. As a campus, we must find ways to bring the celebration to the families so the entire support system of our students can share in the joy of seeing that person awarded their earned degree.”

As a result of many efforts in facilities, academics, research, and more, Cal Poly Humboldt achieved its highest-ever rating on STARS (the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System), which is used by hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide to measure their sustainability efforts. Humboldt’s Gold rating and overall score are the second highest among CSU campuses.

There have also been many successes within Athletics, an important area to Jackson, who himself was a student-athlete. He was known to seek input from the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, which often had highly balanced and engaged students representing the first-year to graduate levels. During his tenure, the Athletics program earned two national championships in Men’s Rugby and Women’s Rowing, improved academic performance, and added additional sports, including triathlon, men's wrestling, and men's and women's rodeo. He sought out opportunities to know the student-athletes and their parents. His goal was to travel to at least one away event per team, per season, to spend time with students and their families. He would admit that he failed frequently at this goal. But it never stopped him from trying.

From his point of view, every week there were incidents large and small on campus. The staff and administrative teams were at their best during these moments. "It truly was inspiring to see the true dedication to each other and to this campus during the tougher moments, " Jackson says.

Over the past five years, Presidents Flamer and Jackson have shared the biweekly Times-Standard column "College Matters." They have authored more than 100 articles each. The two presidents have also shared a KHSU talk radio show called, “Talk Humboldt with Keith and Tom.” Together they have interviewed dozens of local business and community leaders on subjects related to the North Coast. These were strategies used to share important information with the community about higher education and to highlight the unique people of the North Coast.

Leading the campus during these transformational times has been the pinnacle of Jackson’s long career in higher education. Even so, he has remained steadfast in his commitment to his family, balancing the heavy demands of leadership with time and attention given to his surviving daughter and spouse. The Jacksons lost their 22-year-old son in a car accident in 2020, a heartbreaking loss that he and his family still feel deeply.

When sharing his plans, Jackson highlighted the transformation underway on campus as well as some of the personal reasons guiding his decision. “As a president within the CSU, I have had 22 other close colleagues who matter greatly. Working beside them has helped this campus immensely when needed most."

“I am a dad at heart,” he said. “I come to work every day to provide for my family while trying to make a difference in the lives of others. It was the desire to serve and help others that led me to this profession. Today, I find great joy in being the passenger in a small plane that my daughter is piloting. It was 23 years ago that I was the one flying and she was the nine-month-old sleeping beside me in the plane’s cabin. “We do the very best we can every day, trusting the students, staff, and faculty to do the same.” “In the end, it remains about the students. And what has been most rewarding are the many students who have graduated over the last five years. Nothing replaces the smiles of a student and the applause and excitement from their family as their student crosses the stage to receive their diploma. That is what it is all about.”

Tom Jackson, Jr.’s departure as president of Cal Poly Humboldt caps a five-year tenure that saw a dramatic reshaping of the University, paving the way for innovative academic programs, new infrastructure, community collaborations, and record-breaking fundraising to support students.