WSQ PRESENTS
2023 in Review
It has been a great year to be a Spartan! From the arrival of President Cynthia Teniente-Matson to impressive national rankings and everything in between, take a look back at all the highlights of the year.
Introducing Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson
Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson became SJSU’s 31st president in January. Look back on her first 100 days as she met with students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of San José State.
Keep up and follow the president on social media:
SJSU Climbs the Ranks
Regional and national rankings confirm what Spartans already know — SJSU is a world-class institution on the rise.
#1 Best Value among Public Universities – West
#1
Accounting Salaries for Grads
Public Universities – National Wall Street Journal
#2
Best California Colleges Online
SJSU Online Forbes Advisor
#2
Marketing Salaries for Grads
Public Universities – National Wall Street Journal
#3 Top Public University – West
#2
Best Online MBA Programs
Public Universities in California Poets&Quants
#3
Best Colleges for Veterans
Regional Ranking – West U.S. News and World Report
#3
Campus Ethnic Diversity
Public Universities – West U.S. News and World Report
#3 Most Innovative University – West
#4
Data Science Salaries for Grads
Public Universities – National Wall Street Journal
#6
Best Undergraduate Engineering Program – Non-Doctorate
National Ranking U.S. News and World Report
#7
Top Performers for Social Mobility
Regional Ranking – West U.S. News and World Report
ChatGPT and the New Frontier of Artificial Intelligence
Faculty, alumni, staff and students ask big questions about the promise — and potential threats — of AI.
Dr. Yu Chen, an associate professor of information systems and technology in the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, discusses computer interaction, AI, and the questions of the social good and how it all plays out in classrooms at SJSU.
Tom Moriarty, professor of English and rhetoric and director of SJSU's Writing Across the Curriculum program, offered insight into Chat GPT, the new language generator created by OpenAI.
Jon Oakes, technology coordinator for San José State's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, shared unique insights into ChatGPT in advance of an April AI Symposium at the library.
Alum Shariq Shah's start-up Tutorly.ai was selected to receive $100,000 from gener8tor, a Milwaukee-based start-up accelerator program.
Jon Iwata, ’84 Public Relations, believes the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), business and corporate social responsibility presents an opportunity to serve the public good.
Top Media Stories
Along with stories told on the SJSU NewsCenter and Washington Square magazine, local and national media outlets have featured students, faculty, staff and alumni throughout the year. Here are some of our favorites from 2023.
Project Earth: Emperor penguins threatened by climate change - CBS News Bay Area
How a San Jose professor is using technology to save precious books in her Ukrainian hometown - Mercury News
First online-only San Jose State students celebrate graduation - CBS News Bay Area
Media Stories
The number of articles and TV stories featuring our faculty experts, staff, students and alumni.
Media Experts
The number of faculty who can be called upon to provide their expertise for a story.
Most Interviewed Expert: Ahmed Banafa
As an expert in the fields of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, blockchain and cybersecurity, Banafa is a regular media presence across the globe, giving roughly 115 interviews a year to stations in the US, South Korea, England, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China and Japan (among others).
New Buildings, New Possibilities
The future of science and collaboration is ignited by the opening of the eight-story Interdisciplinary Science Building (ISB), while the student-athlete experience and game days are enhanced by the Spartan Athletics Center (SAC).
The Class of 2023 Set the Bar High
More than 10,000 SJSU graduates — current and future educators, engineers, scientists, academics, entrepreneurs, artists and more — received their diplomas and crossed the stage at the Provident Credit Union Event Center at San José State University during the Spring 2023 and Fall 2023 commencement ceremonies.
Lucia Sanchez, ’23 Interdisciplinary Studies, a graduate from SJSU Online, became the first in her family to graduate from college and is continuing her education by enrolling in a master’s degree program at Harvard University.
Juan Angel Johnston-Chavez, ’23 Vocal Performance and Music Education, shared his experience as a performer and educator whose four years at SJSU were interrupted by the pandemic.
Amidst her meteoric rise through sport, Aimee Ramos, ’23 Biomedical Engineering, breathed new life into the women's club rugby team at SJSU.
Discover what you can do at SJSU
At SJSU, there are endless possibilities to learn, innovate, research and create. See what you will discover as a Spartan and how you can find your “why.”
A Research Week to Remember
San José State students showed their research and entrepreneurial skills at various competitions and showcases across the state, culminating in SJSU’s first Research Week, a celebration of the many amazing projects and studies happening at SJSU.
Research Week connected the dots between the university’s dynamic public impact research and real-world, real-time applications, showcasing innovative research initiatives from students and faculty across colleges, centers and institutes.
Total Grants Awarded
Faculty Received Grants
*Preliminary Data from Jan. 1–Nov. 30, 2023
Total Amount of Grants Awarded
*Preliminary Data from Jan. 1–Nov. 30, 2023
At the California State University (CSU) Student Research Competition, the Sunstone CSU Startup Launch Competition, and the CSU-wide Grad Slam Competition, SJSU undergraduates and graduate students won high honors.
SJSU launched SpartUp, its first business interdisciplinary incubator, supporting students, alumni, faculty and staff through the entire startup journey — from idea to prototype to planning and fundraising.
SJSU’s Vision for the Future
As SJSU unveiled its Campus Master Plan to guide the revitalization of the campus over the next decade and a half, the university's footprint in downtown San José has expanded with the approval to move forward on the Alquist Redevelopment project and the opening of the Spartan Village on the Paseo in August 2024.
The Alquist Redevelopment is a planned workforce housing tower in downtown San José, with upwards of 1,000 units of housing — with half reserved for graduate students, faculty, and staff. This project is poised to become the first major investment in SJSU’s comprehensive plan to make housing more accessible to the campus community.
The next planned addition to SJSU's student housing stock brings more Spartans to the core of San José's vibrant urban community. Up to 700 planned student beds, including 124 affordable beds, brand-new amenities including on-site dining, a fitness center, expansive study lounges, and a community kitchen give Spartans a stunning new place to call home.
San José State University unveiled the new Campus Master Plan to guide physical development and revitalization for all SJSU sites through 2040. The Campus Master Plan prepares SJSU for a future of dramatic growth with new and renovated facilities, expansive open space and accessible and inclusive design principles to renew and rebuild our university.
Experience Spartan Life at SJSU
Living the Spartan Life means flourishing in a diverse and inclusive community, where students leave the downtown campus ready for their roles as global citizens driving societal change. Together, 40,000 Spartans strong, we invite you to experience the Spartan Life with us in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Spartan Nation on the Rise
Elite Company
SJSU was one of 31 schools in the nation to have baseball, men’s basketball and football make the NCAA postseason in 2022-23. In addition, for the first time in school history, football and men’s basketball qualified for NCAA postseason in the same academic year.
Winning on the Court and Field
For the first time since 1986-87, both men's basketball and football finished over .500.
Top 100 Finish
The Spartans recorded their first top 100 finish in the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup Standings in nearly 30 years.
Scholar Athletes
A school record: 91 student-athletes were named to the Mountain West Scholar Team (3.5 GPA or higher) and over 40 student-athletes were President’s Scholars.
Recognizing Greatness
SJSU had five All-Americans, four conference player of the year honorees, two head Coach of the Year awardees and 70 student-athletes garnered all-conference recognition.
To the NFL
Football’s Junior Fehoko was a fourth-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2023 NFL Draft, while Elijah Cooks signed a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
To the MLB
Baseball’s Charles McAdoo was an 13th-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2023 MLB Draft.
Baseball
The Spartans won its first Mountain West regular season and tournament championships.
Track and Field
Emilia Sjostrand became the first women’s track and field All-American with seventh-place finishes in the triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships and long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Men's Water Polo
Men’s water polo captured the inaugural West Coast Conference tournament championship.
Women's Golf
Lucia Lopez Ortega finished second at the NCAA Championships in women’s golf and has over a 3.9 GPA in biochemistry.
Top Social Posts
Our social feeds were filled with snapshots of the year. Here are some of the highlights from our @SJSU accounts.
Spartan family, please help us give a warm welcome to our new President @sjsuprezmatson! #sjsu #spartanlife
A few more snow photos from last week as SJ turned into Colorado for a quick sec ❄️ FYI, the last previous widespread snowfall near sea level in the SF Bay Area was on Feb. 5, 1976. #sjsu 📸 @irenadelm
ICYMI, Spartans showed up in big numbers Monday to welcome @vp @kamalaharris off Air Force Two!
The Vice President is in the Bay Area this week for semiconductor research and development. #sjsu #spartanlife
On June 24, the @naacp inducted four legendary Spartans into its Legacy Hall of Fame in recognition of their groundbreaking work as civil rights advocates: Olympic Project for Human Rights co-founders Dr. Harry Edwards, ’64 Social Science, ’16 Honorary Doctorate, and Ken Noel, ’66 BA, ’68 MA, Social Science; and Olympians Tommie Smith, ’69 Social Science, ’05 Honorary Doctorate, and John Carlos, ’05 Honorary Doctorate. #spartanlife
Hi @taylorswift, many don't know this, but I'm a total Swiftie 🎤 Me and the Spartan community welcome you to the Bay Area. Feel free to stop by campus anytime, I'll give you a tour!
— Sammy the Swiftie 💙 💛
Keep up and follow SJSU on social media:
Editor's Picks
Aspiring therapist and mother of five Christina Ledesma, '25 Psychology, competed on the Food Network's Halloween Baking Challenge on October 23.
An exhibition at the King Library celebrated the legacy of the Good Brothers House, a 10-bedroom boarding house that became a welcoming space for students of color to live, study and socialize.
Since 1979, the Timpany Center, with its heated pool and fitness accessible to all abilities, has fulfilled its mission “to create an inclusive space for people to thrive.” These profiles of faculty, staff, and clients demonstrate what the space means to the community.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at San José State is training Spartans on how to repair books.
Elizabeth Skovran, professor of biological sciences, (along with colleagues at UC Berkeley) is genetically engineering bacteria to eat the rare earth metals in electronic waste, which can then be recovered to power everything from electric cars to wind turbines.
Four SJSU alumni contributed to a Science Magazine publication alongside Professor of Biological Sciences Katherine Wilkinson and 2021 Nobel Prize Winner Ardem Patapoutian.
Spearheaded by Associated Students President Nina Chuang, ’23 Nutrition and Food Science, and several partner organizations, the event recognized the 81st anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which incarcerated thousands of people of Japanese descent during World War II.
Four legendary Spartans join the ranks of the NAACP's Legacy Hall of Fame.
Read the Award-Winning SJSU Magazine
Washington Square serves as SJSU’s university and alumni magazine, sharing compelling and inspiring stories that embody the Spartan pride and resilience we all treasure. Catch up on all the past issues!
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Editors
Monica Bosque
Assistant Director of Web Development, UX and Content
Julia Halprin Jackson
University Writer and Copy Editor
Kenneth Mashinchi
Interim Associate Vice President, University Marketing and Communications
Cassie Myers
University Writer and Copy Editor
Images and videos courtesy of Robert C. Bain, Javier Duarte, Jonathan Meyer, Keith Sanders and SJSU Athletics
Washington Square: San José State University's Magazine © 2023. All Rights Reserved | Land Acknowledgement