Chris Kimball, Ph.D., became California Lutheran University’s seventh president in 2008 after two years as provost and vice president for academic affairs. With a commitment to academic excellence, service, and real-world learning in support of the University’s mission and strategic plans, he has led Cal Lutheran into its second half-century. 

A historian by training, Kimball completed his undergraduate degree at McGill University before earning master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. He publishes and lectures on topics ranging from the history of baseball to trends in higher education. 

Prior to moving west, Kimball spent six years as provost and dean at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, where he served on the faculty and held a variety of administrative positions beginning in 1991. Prior to that, he had been a faculty member at University of Nebraska–Lincoln. 

Kimball serves independent higher education regionally and nationally. He is on the board of directors of the New American Colleges & Universities, the executive committee of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, and the board of directors of the American Council on Education. He is also a member of the NCAA Management Council for Division III and on the President’s Council for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. 

Locally, Kimball serves on the boards of nonprofit, educational, and economic organizations, including Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center, New West Symphony, Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, Conejo/Las Virgenes Futures Foundation, Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank, and the President’s Council of the American Red Cross Ventura County. He is a member of the Thousand Oaks Rotary Club. 

Kimball and his wife, Liz, live in Thousand Oaks. They have two grown children, Glenn and Rachel. A native of Massachusetts, Kimball is an avid Boston Red Sox fan.