CSULB honored as transfer champion, faculty and staff win awards and more Beach achievements
Making Waves is a monthly column that celebrates accomplishments of the CSULB community.
CSULB recognized for transfer equity gains
Cal State Long Beach has been named a 2026 Pathway Champion of Transfer Equity by the Campaign for College Opportunity, a California-based nonprofit. The Beach was also recognized by the group as a Transfer Champion for Latinx Students.
The honors celebrate the university's success in ensuring that at least half of its 2025 incoming transfer students — and Latinx transfer students — earned an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT), with more than half of those students on guaranteed pathways. The recognition highlights the university’s commitment to closing equity gaps and advancing seamless transfer routes between community colleges and the CSU system. Cal State Long Beach was recognized with 31 other California universities and colleges across four categories during a statewide virtual celebration last month.
Kleefeld’s Krasner paintings at the Met
Two paintings by artist Lee Krasner from the Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum’s permanent collection are on loan and view at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in the exhibition, “Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous.” The works are “Gothic Frieze” (1950), an oil on masonite, and “Stretched Yellow” (1955), an oil with collaged paper on canvas. They are both part of the Gordon F. Hampton Collection, gifted to the University Art Museum by the Hampton Foundation in 1999. “Stretched Yellow” was featured in the exhibition “Lee Krasner: A Through Line” in 2023. “Past Continuous” runs through Jan. 31, 2027.
Sociology professor featured in Amazon documentary
Sociology professor Jake Wilson’s research is highlighted in a new investigative documentary on Amazon workers. The film, “Undeliverable: Prime Profits. Poor People,” made its California premiere on Oct. 16 at the San Diego Film Festival. Wilson’s book, “The Cost of Free Shipping: Amazon in the Global Economy” (Pluto Press, 2020), which examines the working conditions facing Amazon’s subcontracted delivery drivers, is highlighted in the film, and Wilson is also a featured expert interviewed in the documentary.
“Undeliverable” was also screened during the Boston Film Festival in September and was the opening program for the Workers Unite Film Festival in New York City last month.
Scholarship gala honors Black alumni
The 6th Annual Black Alumni Scholarship Gala, held Oct. 10 at the Linden Club in Long Beach, honored two CSULB alumni and one community partner, and raised scholarship money for the Black Alumni Scholarship Fund. Tiffany Robertson ‘05, a procurement analyst for the Port of Long Beach, received an Alumna of the Year award. Charles D. Smith ’98, an administrator of instruction for Los Angeles Unified School District, received the award for Alumnus of the Year. And Percell Keeling, the founder of Simply Wholesome, a health food store and restaurant, received an award for Community Partner of the Year.
President Loren J. Blanchard served as keynote speaker, while M. Keith Claybrook, a professor and chair of Africana Studies, served as the host.
Two CNSM professors win NIH-SuRE awards
Two faculty members from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Julie Wahlman, an assistant professor in chemistry, and Erika Holland, an associate professor in biological sciences, recently received National Institutes of Health (NIH) Support for Research Excellence (SuRE) awards. The SuRE program supports research capacity building at eligible colleges and universities through funding investigator-initiated research in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences that falls in the NIH mission areas.
CSULB earns second place in international animation contest
A Cal State Long Beach animation team competed with 670 other teams across the globe and won second place in the 24 Hours Animation Contest for Students, held Oct. 2-3. The Whomp Whomps, as the team called itself, scored 357 points out of 400 for its short film, narrowly missing first place by just four points. Winning teams received prizes that were valued between $15,000 - $26,000 and were donated by major studios and industry sponsors.
The 24th annual contest was created and hosted by CSULB animation professor Aubry Mintz, with a production team comprised of Beach alumni and others from the animation industry.
CSULB wins CASE district awards
Cal State Long Beach recently won four honors in the Best of District VII Awards, sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The Strategic Communications department won an award in the Design/Covers category for the cover of Beach Book 2026. Beach Book serves as a curated overview of CSULB’s accomplishments and showcases points of pride that define The Beach spirit.
CSULB also won an award in Engagement/Targeted Constituent Engagement for the project, “Planting Legacy Seeds at First Hello,” organized by the Planned Giving office in partnership with Parent and Family Orientation. For the first time, the Planned Giving office engaged parents and supporters of incoming students, an audience rarely included in planned giving outreach, during summertime Parent and Family Orientation sessions. The project featured a video, reinforced with print materials, reaching more than 2,300 attendees.
Two other CASE District VII Awards recognized Alumni Engagement and the Commencement office for their project, “Senior Send Off: Invest in Your Success,” and the Alumni Engagement team for “Beach Proud: Help Welcome the Next Wave.” These projects were previously honored with CASE Circle of Excellence Awards. The district awards will be presented during the joint District VII & District VIII Annual Conference, March 8-10, 2027, in Vancouver, Canada.
Employee of the Month: Michael Warden
Michael Warden ’10, ’17, ’22, associate director of the University Center for Undergraduate Advising, has been named CSULB’s Employee of the Month for October 2026. He has served in that role since 2018, supporting undeclared students, undergraduates on academic warning and students seeking reinstatement after academic disqualification. Warden guides advisors through challenging assignments, mentors colleagues and helps improve campus processes. In her nomination letter, Amir Nia, senior academic advisor with UCUA, described Warden as “a humble yet powerful force at CSULB” whose leadership comes from investing in and uplifting staff and students. “He listens before he speaks, rolls up his sleeves before he delegates,” and helps staff “grow, thrive and feel valued.”
Warden also serves as a staff academic senator, and helps with the Concilio for Latinx Success and the Latinx Faculty and Staff Association. He has contributed to CSULB achieving the Seal of Excelencia. Warden was honored Oct. 12 at Friendship Walk, joined by President Loren J. Blanchard, campus colleagues and family.
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