CSUB announces new provost and vice president for Academic Affairs

Dr. Deborah Thien to begin duties on July 1

By California State University, Bakersfield

May 2^nd, 2025

California State University, Bakersfield President Vernon B. Harper Jr. announced May 2 the appointment of Dr. Deborah Thien as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs following an extensive search that engaged the entire Roadrunner community.

Dr. Thien currently serves as dean of the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). She will begin her duties at CSUB on July 1.

“I am thrilled to join CSU Bakersfield as your new provost,” Dr. Thien said. “I have lived, worked and studied in communities where a single institution served as the path to transformation. As a first-generation-to-college scholar, I have experienced the life-changing outcomes such an institution provides. As a professor and administrator in the CSU, I have witnessed these many times over. The commitments and contributions of CSUB resonate deeply for me.”

During her two decades at CSU Long Beach, Dr. Thien has served as an assistant professor, associate professor and full professor of geography. She has held several administrative roles at CSULB, including serving as the director of the university honors program, the department chair of human development, and as CLA’s associate dean of enrollment management and student success. As dean, Dr. Thien has led an intellectually vibrant, inclusive and collegial college community.

Dr. Thien is an experienced and compassionate academic administrator with demonstrated successes in and deep commitments to faculty, staff and student success. She created, championed and dedicated resources to numerous initiatives and professional development opportunities for faculty, staff and students in support of scholarly, educational and equity goals.

As a scholar and a teacher, Dr. Thien has an interdisciplinary background that spans the social sciences and the humanities. Her teaching and research expertise are in geographies of emotion, health and well-being; rural, remote and northern geographies; and qualitative and ethnographic research methods. Dr. Thien’s scholarly distinctions include being awarded the Commonwealth Scholarship for her doctoral work, a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council postdoctoral fellowship, and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research grant.

Dr. Thien earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and women’s studies at the University of Victoria, Canada; her Master of Arts degree in gender studies from the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada, including a year as an International Exchange Scholar at Massey University, New Zealand; and her Ph.D. in human geography from the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

“I look forward to leading Academic Affairs towards collectively determined goals, and guided by President Harper’s vision, as we embark upon broad engagement in a newly iterated strategic plan and continue to reinforce CSUB’s place as Kern County’s University," Dr. Thien said. "I had a wonderful time engaging with those I met this spring and learning more about CSUB's points of pride: your scholarly centers and activities, student engagements and achievements and your beautiful and collegial campus. I come ready to meet the wider community, to be in conversation with you and to deliver on the goals we set together.”

Dr. Thien and her 13-year-old son, Owen, have explored Bakersfield and are excited about all that the region has to offer.

“I am thrilled to join CSU Bakersfield as your new provost,” she said. “I am deeply impressed by the strong community and strong leadership already in place. CSUB’s commitments to student success, academic excellence and community impact are readily apparent in the many distinctions you have garnered, individually and collectively. The university's steady rise in national rankings for social mobility, economic value and student success are a measure of the significant contribution this campus is making to the public good. It is a tribute to CSUB that your graduates remain in the Valley to apply their knowledge and experiences across many fields.”