June 5, 2019

CGU enters collaborative alliance with Western University of Health Sciences

WesternU President Daniel R. Wilson, MD, PhD, left and CGU President Len Jessup, PhD, sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Tuesday, June 4, 2019 forming a strategic alliance to offer students collaborative programming with a focus on health sciences, public health, and health systems management. The signing and agreement took place at WesternU in Pomona, California. (Jeff Malet, Western)

As Len Jessup looks ahead to his first-year anniversary as president of CGU in a few short weeks, he announced an exciting new alliance with Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona to offer students on both campuses collaborative programming with a focus on health sciences, public health, and health systems management.

Jessup and WesternU President Dr. Daniel Wilson made the joint announcement and signed a memorandum of understanding between the two schools this week on the WesternU campus.

Both presidents said the alliance brings together two complementary institutions—CGU, which is the country’s oldest graduate-only university; and the rapidly-growing WesternU, which has the broadest array of all-graduate health sciences colleges in the U.S.—to create ample new opportunities for students and faculty.

Jessup hailed the alliance as “a natural extension of our mission” while WesternU President Daniel R. Wilson added that the alliance will help his school “expand its programs to include management and public health.”

University logos for CGU and WesternU — CGU’s alliance with WesternU will provide training and research to tackle the world’s complex health challenges.

The alliance creates a strong graduate-level education presence in Los Angeles County, southern California, and the Western US. Together, CGU and WesternU serve 6,000 students and employ more than 1,000 people in Claremont and Pomona, Calif.

Each university will maintain separate operational, financial, and governance structures. Students will have the opportunity to enroll in collaborative programming beginning in the Fall 2019 term.

Jessup’s first year

The alliance caps off a busy first year for Jessup, whose leadership at other universities across the country has been marked by a similar effort at building partnerships and creating consensus.

At UNLV, for instance, such efforts by Jessup and his team resulted in the university’s becoming the home of the Oakland Raiders NFL team as well as the site of the final presidential debate in 2016.

In addition to the WesternU alliance, during Jessup’s 12 months at CGU the university also has welcomed new partnerships with Orange County-based SOKA University of America and the Brookings Institution.