James Gash — Pepperdine University

Chief Executive and President

THE LATEST: In September, Pepperdine University ranked No. 49 out of the nation’s top 389 national universities by U.S. News and World Report. The publication ranked Pepperdine’s Seaver College No. 18 in undergraduate teaching and the university’s study abroad program No. 15. In August, Gash named the university’s chief marketing officer, Rick Gibson, to the new role of senior vice chancellor, tasking him with increasing Pepperdine’s visibility and presence in the Los Angeles region and around the world. In April 2020, the university made its first commercial real estate investment purchase, paying $17.5 million for a two-story office complex in Malibu.
BACKGROUND: Gash became Pepperdine’s eighth president in August 2019. A Pepperdine Law School alum who finished top of his class and was editor-in-chief of its Law Review, Gash joined the law school faculty in 1999. In between his Pepperdine Law School endeavors, Gash worked for the small litigation firm of DeSimone & Tropio; clerked for Judge Edith Jones on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; and worked for Kirkland & Ellis.
YEARS ON THE LA500: 3
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