Don Haviland

Advocate, Guide, Inspire

Winning the 2018 NCAA Division National Championship wasn't the only way last year's men's volleyball team mirrored the 1991 squad. Under the direction of Coach Alan Knipe, the team adopted the close-knit culture embodied by previous teams.

At Syracuse University, in his home state of New York, Dr. Don Haviland met Amy Holzgang, a classmate who would later become his wife. She, a Southern California native, was eager to return to sunny skies after graduation. So, she brought him along, and he began his dynamic career in higher education on the West Coast.

There are few people with a relationship to higher education like Dr. Haviland. “It took me a while to find my niche,” he admits. After 10 years in various roles in administration, he found his place as a College of Education professor at CSULB in 2007. Teaching provides “the chance to mentor students and make a concrete difference.”

In addition to helping produce the next generation of education professionals, Dr. Haviland finds solutions for best university practices as Director of the Center for Evaluation and Effectiveness. Here, he gets to hone in on his research which includes assisting college campuses in better serving their students, and identifying ways to promote the success of faculty members.

When discussing his legacy, Dr. Haviland expresses “I will be happy if most of the students I work with leave CSULB ready to achieve.” With several Outstanding Graduates naming him as their Most Valuable Professor, this will not be a legacy he has trouble leaving. Dominica Scibetta `16 wrote: “Dr. Haviland personifies the role of a mentor and demonstrates what it means to advocate, guide, and inspire students. I am honored, humbled, and grateful to be one of them.”

This education professor, researcher, and advocate whose proudest moments are seeing “a student’s expression when new information clicks,” spends his free time enjoying live music, jazz, and classic rock. Dr. Haviland is currently teaching himself how to play the guitar, “but that might be why it’s not working,” he laughs.

As a piece of advice for today’s students, he offers, “The problems we have today are interdisciplinary and complex. Learn to work together and collaborate.” It is thanks to professors like Dr. Haviland that students from The Beach will be prepared to address and solve these problems.