Office of the President
Elevating excellence through innovation and access
For more than a century, NAU has fostered a community rooted in academic excellence and innovation. We're proud of our legacy and even more excited about what is next.
Driven by equitable access and powered by economic mobility, we continue to elevate excellence by expanding community partnerships, inspiring research discoveries, and preparing students to make a lasting impact.
Northern Arizona University’s 17th president
President Dr. José Luis Cruz Rivera
Since joining Northern Arizona University in June 2021, President José Luis Cruz Rivera has partnered with faculty, staff, and students to reimagine what NAU can be. The Elevating Excellence strategic roadmap emerged from extensive collaboration with the university community, charting a path toward greater access and opportunity.
Together, the NAU community has achieved significant milestones: welcoming record numbers of Arizona students, earning Hispanic-Serving Institution and R1 research designations, and launching Access2Excellence to provide tuition-free education for low-income students and members of Arizona's 22 federally recognized Tribes, and propelling economic mobility and social impact through record retention and graduation rates. The new NAU Health initiative aims to double healthcare degrees by 2030, addressing workforce needs across the state. NAU Athletics has achieved historic success, including Big Sky championships and national recognition for academic excellence. And the Lumberjack Marching Band earned the national honor of being selected to perform in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The team has also strengthened NAU's financial position, securing over $190 million in private investment over four years—more than the previous 14 years combined—and launched the Arizona Attainment Alliance (A++), a coalition serving 280,000 students across Arizona's public universities and community colleges. Cruz Rivera stays connected to the academic mission by teaching freshman digital logic circuits as a Professor of Electrical Engineering.
His work at NAU is informed by extensive experience in a wide variety of roles and institutions. At CUNY's Lehman College in the Bronx, he worked with campus leaders on the Lehman 90x30 Challenge to double degrees and credentials by 2030, achieving record graduation rates and contributing to the institution's Top 10 national ranking for economic mobility. As CUNY's Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost during the COVID-19 pandemic, he helped coordinate the rapid transition to remote learning for 500,000 students across 25 colleges and supported the distribution of $118 million in emergency aid while mobilizing healthcare students for NYC's pandemic response.
Earlier experiences include serving as Provost at Cal State Fullerton, where he helped drive record graduation rates and expand transfer pathways; Vice President at The Education Trust, where he also served on the Board of Directors (2014-2023; Chair, 2019-23) and led the Access to Success initiative engaging 22 university systems; and Chief Student Affairs Officer for the University of Puerto Rico system, where he secured $120 million in federal stabilization funds. His academic career began at UPR-Mayagüez, rising from faculty member to Department Chair and Dean of Academic Affairs. He also served as the founding Chief Technical Officer of a tech startup that showcased VoIP innovations at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show.
Cruz Rivera contributes to education policy through numerous leadership roles. Appointed by the U.S. Senate to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), he advises on federal accreditation and student aid policy. He serves on the Enterprise Executive Committee of the Arizona Board of Regents, the Arizona Commerce Authority Board, the Arizona State Board of Education, the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration Steering Committee, and was elected to the American Council on Education (ACE) Board of Directors in 2025.
His past board service extends to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the Higher Ed Climate Action Task Force (Aspen Institute), The Data Quality Campaign, the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), and the Postsecondary Value Commission. He has also served as a Trustee of The New York Botanical Garden and on the Community Advisory Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
A frequent keynote speaker who has testified before Congress, Cruz Rivera has secured funding from organizations including the National Science Foundation, Army Research Lab, Lumina Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. His work has been featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Univision.
Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024 and a Senior Member of IEEE, Cruz Rivera is a patented inventor and NSF CAREER Award recipient. He earned his bachelor's in electrical engineering from UPR-Mayagüez and his master's and Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, specializing in optical interconnections for ultracompact massively parallel processing systems.
President's cabinet
The President's Cabinet is compromised of leaders from NAU's strategic, operational, and advisory teams. Together, this group provides university-wide leadership, advancing and aligning efforts across academic and administrative areas in pursuit of NAU's mission. The Cabinet plays a critical role in driving the vision of Elevating Excellence and ensuring meaningful service of students, communities, and the people of Arizona and beyond.
Presidential leadership and university governance
Presidential leadership and university governance provide the strategic direction and institutional oversight necessary to fulfill NAU's mission and ensure accountability, transparency, and student-centered decision-making. Together, presidential leadership and university governance ensure NAU remains responsive to the needs of its students and community while maintaining excellence in teaching, research, and service.
Contact the President's Office
To request a meeting or student interview, invite the president to attend an event, or make a general inquiry, please submit a contact form.
To connect with President Cruz Rivera or his team, email president@nau.edu or call 928-523-3232. For meeting requests, interviews, or event invitations, reach out directly to the Office of the President.