On January 7, 2008 Dr. David L. Soltz began his term as the 18th president of Bloomsburg University.  He came to Bloomsburg from Central Washington University, having served as provost since 2001.  Dr. Soltz began his academic career at the University of California-Berkeley where he earned a BA in zoology in 1968, and later attended the University of California-Los Angeles.  He received his Ph.D. in biology there in 1974, with a research focus on ecology and environmental biology involving fish populations in stressful environments. Dr. Soltz's teaching career began in the fall of 1974 at California State University-Los Angeles as a faculty member in the Department of Biology.  His success in teaching, curriculum development and research led to his promotion to full professor in 1982, and the following year he became chair of the department.  In 1988 his career took him to the California State University-Long Beach campus, where he served first as chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, and in 1995-96 as the acting dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

In 1996 Dr. Soltz returned to California State University-Los Angeles, this time as the Dean of the College of Natural and Social Sciences.  During his five years there he was responsible for 15 departments, over 200 faculty members and managed an operating budget of  more than $20 million, before moving to Ellensburg, Washington and Central Washington University as their Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.  At Central Washington he oversaw more than 90 academic programs, a budget of almost $92 million, and a faculty of over 450.

Dr. Soltz came to campus to interview for the position of president on September 11 and 12, 2007.  He stated his interest in the job was due in no small part to Bloomsburg being recognized as one of the top schools in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.  He also felt the beautiful campus was an asset in attracting students, and said as president he would like to see more outreach with the community and would encourage programs to allow young students in the geographic area to become more familiar with what Bloomsburg had to offer them.  On November 13 Dr. Soltz was named the next President of Bloomsburg University, and he looked forward to his new role.  “I’m excited and honored to be named the next president of Bloomsburg University ,” Dr. Soltz said. “I’m impressed with the outstanding faculty and students at the university, as well as its beautiful campus. I look forward to leading this fine institution to a higher level of excellence and my wife and I are looking forward to joining the Bloomsburg community.”

Updated 2/7/08