Fresno State names Dr. S. Marshall Perry new education dean

Fresno State has named Dr. S. Marshall Perry as the next dean of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development, putting a new leader at the center of the Central Valley’s largest educator-preparation pipeline. The appointment carries immediate stakes for Fresno County schools, where the school says nearly 800 Kremen completers earn credentials each year and most go on to work in Fresno Unified School District and Clovis Unified School District.

Perry will begin the job on July 20, 2026. He comes to Fresno State from Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga, where he most recently served as interim dean of the Kalmanovitz School of Education. Fresno State said he also served there as vice provost of academic innovation, and earlier as a program director, department chair and associate dean.

Provost Xuanning Fu said Perry has spent his career championing academic pathways that support student success, including accelerated 4-plus-1 programs that allow students to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years. That experience is likely to matter at Kremen, where demand for credentialed teachers, counselors and school leaders remains high across Fresno County and the broader Central Valley.

The Kremen School is fully accredited by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. Its next California Commission on Teacher Credentialing review is expected in fall 2029 or spring 2030, making Perry responsible for steering the school through a long accreditation cycle while keeping programs aligned with district hiring needs.

Fresno State also signaled continuity as Perry takes over from interim dean Sergio La Porta. In a statement, the university said La Porta’s leadership over the past two and a half years helped boost morale, strengthen programs and advance student success. Perry said he was excited to join Fresno State and described the university as a high-quality institution of economic mobility, while calling the Kremen School a place of major accomplishment and potential.

The school’s history underscores the weight of the post. It was renamed the Benjamin and Marion Kremen School of Education and Human Development in 2001 after a $4 million endowment, and Fresno State says it was the first named school of education in the CSU system and one of only a few in the nation. As Perry prepares to take over, the central test will be whether that legacy translates into more teachers, stronger school leaders and steadier staffing for Fresno-area classrooms that need them most.