The Struppa Years: A Legacy of Growth and Purpose
Through a blend of curiosity, humility and strategic vision, Daniele Struppa empowered faculty, elevated research and fostered a community poised to thrive long after his presidency.
By dennis arp
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If we were fishing for eyeballs or clicks, we’d call this “the story President Struppa doesn’t want you to read.”
Seriously, he did try to talk us out of writing it.
The truth is, as Daniele Struppa prepares to step away from the Chapman presidency after nine transformational years, he hopes to slip quietly and seamlessly into the university’s faculty. He’s ready to devote his energy to his academic first loves: collaborating on crossdisciplinary research and sharing his passion for mathematics with students.
To be sure, he’s eager to keep contributing to Chapman’s extraordinary rise.
“The university has a tremendous future,” he said. “We have amazing people in virtually every department.”
Just don’t get him started on the words “personal legacy.”
“I hate those words,” Struppa said, without losing his smile. “It’s not about what I have done, it’s about what the university has done, it’s about what all our people have done together.”
Struppa makes the success Chapman has enjoyed under his leadership sound simple.
“To create a great university, you hire the best people, you stay out of the way, and you give them the support to succeed,” he said. “You identify areas of strength, and you build on that.”
Struppa is quick to point out that Chapman was already ascending when he joined. His arrival from George Mason University in 2006 came during the middle of Jim Doti’s 25-year quantum-leap presidency, which greatly improved the quality of the student body, strengthened finances, bolstered faculty, increased enrollment and launched impactful new schools and colleges alongside transformative campus infrastructure.
“One of the reasons I accepted the job is because I saw the structure and I thought there were lots of possibilities for taking things to a new level,” Struppa said. “I remember sitting in Jim’s office and hearing him say that he wanted Chapman to become a top institution. I said, ‘We can do it, but it’s going to take a lot of work and sustained investment.’ He said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Doti appreciated that Struppa recognized that for Chapman to become a national university, it needed a strong research-based identity—one built by recruiting top faculty and pursuing grants to support top-level scholarship. In addition to elevating Chapman’s research impact, the presence of leading minds would strengthen its programs. These are essential goals in the university’s tenacious pursuit of academic excellence.
Throughout his presidency, Daniele Struppa has made time to engage with students—part of his commitment to student-centered leadership.
“I really give Daniele a lot of credit for energizing and redirecting Chapman in a new and exciting way,” Doti said. “To become a national university, many schools in the region just treated it as a name change. It wasn’t a structural change in what their universities represented. But Daniele saw it differently. He helped put us on the map.”
President-elect Matt Parlow noted that much of Struppa’s success stems from his deep reverence for people and passion for collaboration.
“A president’s job is hard. I have seen that every day while working with Daniele, and yet he always keeps his cool,” said Parlow. “He cares so deeply about the people he works with, about the students we serve, the alumni who come back and stay engaged with the university. He really cares about people. It’s genuine. It’s why so many of us love him so much. He’s one of the most special people I know, and Chapman University wouldn’t be what it is today without him.”
ESTABLISHING ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
When Struppa started as provost in 2006, he began implementing an ambitious vision of Chapman as a high-level research institution. The challenge was integrating a research focus while maintaining Chapman’s strength as a source of personalized education.
Faculty say Struppa has shown the way.
“It’s not just lip service—Daniele is the model of a teacher-scholar,” said Chris Bader, professor of sociology and associate director of Chapman’s Institute for the Study of Religion, Economics and Society. “He believes that our research should influence our teaching and that allowing our students to see projects in progress makes the research endeavor less abstract.”
HE CARES SO DEEPLY ABOUT THE PEOPLE HE WORKS WITH, ABOUT THE STUDENTS WE SERVE, THE ALUMNI WHO COME BACK AND STAY ENGAGED WITH THE UNIVERSITY. HE REALLY CARES ABOUT PEOPLE. IT’S GENUINE.
Matt Parlow, President-elect
Daniele Struppa shares a moment with students on campus, reflecting his approachable leadership style.
Daniele Struppa and Pete the Panther share a fun moment.
Since Struppa’s arrival on campus, Chapman’s student body has increased by about 60%, and the number of fulltime faculty has more than doubled. This growth accompanied the addition of several new schools and colleges, including Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Schmid College of Science and Technology, the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler School of Engineering, College of Performing Arts and the School of Communication.
But this wasn’t random expansion. Struppa ensured that world-class faculty were brought in while retaining the personalized, tailored education unique to Chapman. Notably, the student-to-faculty ratio has decreased from about 21:1 to just under 17:1.
As a recruiter, Struppa hasn’t been afraid to aim high. A renowned mathematician himself, he shares a passion for research and academic rigor with the great minds he has brought to campus.
“I love talking with Daniele about arcane things,” said Scott Chapman, secretary of the Board of Trustees. “As strange as it seems, his depth of understanding in mathematics is a great draw for the germinal faculty that he has so successfully recruited.”
Marilyn Harran, Stern Professor of Holocaust Education and director of the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library, said Struppa has a natural disposition for connecting with people of excellence in different disciplines and fields.
“I’ve had the experience of listening to him talk about something in philosophy or mathematics that I know at most a sliver about,” Harran said. “But he will talk with such excitement and passion that I go out and buy books if only so I can puzzle out why he is so excited.”
Two of the academic heavy-hitters Struppa recruited are Nobel Prize-winning economist Vernon Smith and renowned theoretical physicist Yakir Aharonov. Smith helped establish the university’s Economic Science Institute, while Aharonov, who went on to win the National Medal of Science while at Chapman, helped launch groundbreaking research at the university’s Institute for Quantum Studies.
Bringing in scholars like Smith and Aharonov has helped attract numerous impactful researchers from around the world.
“Vernon and Yakir are like beacons for researchers,” Struppa said. “Researchers of high quality recognize others of high quality.”
But it’s not just recruits from outside the Chapman faculty who’ve been invigorated by the university’s vibrant research culture and its marshaling of cross-disciplinary resources.
“Daniele gave everyone here a reason to be excited and to believe in themselves,” said Lia Halloran, chair of the Department of Art. “We’re encouraged to push even farther and to reach out to new collaborators—to create a research community that includes our students.”
Louise Thomas, professor of music and associate vice provost for undergraduate education and student success, noted that peers at other institutions often speak glowingly of Chapman’s leadership.
“Very often they are quite envious of what we’ve been able to achieve,” she said. “Of course, Daniele will say, ‘I didn’t do this.’ But he has gathered all these great people and made sure that the train doesn’t only stay on the tracks but moves forward at considerable speed.”
Chapman’s rise has also been recognized nationally.
In 2019, U.S. News & World Report ranked the university among the nation’s top institutions for the first time. By 2024, Chapman was ranked No. 121 among 436 National Universities. That same year, Chapman achieved R2 status in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, joining 139 universities recognized for “high research activity.”
This academic excellence is also reflected in Chapman’s induction into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious honors society, and in its growing number of students earning Rhodes, Fulbright, Truman and Goldwater scholarships.
“Chapman’s ability to achieve status as a research institution has much to do with the enhanced focus on our academic reputation as well as President Struppa’s personal academic reputation and the resulting ability to attract top-tier academic talent,” said Jim Roszak, Chapman Board of Trustees member. “Daniele has been excellent at carefully allocating resources to support that effort, and it’s clearly paying off.”
TO CREATE A GREAT UNIVERSITY, YOU HIRE THE BEST PEOPLE, YOU STAY OUT OF THE WAY, AND YOU GIVE THEM THE SUPPORT TO SUCCEED.
President Daniele Struppa
BUILDING FINANCIAL STRENGTH
Of course, resources matter. Thanks to philanthropic support and careful financial stewardship, Chapman’s endowment and net assets have more than doubled during Struppa’s tenure—to more than $870 million and $1.8 billion*, respectively.
With the university in a strong financial position, it has expanded its campus footprint to support a growing student body and research enterprise.
Chapman has invested in scientific infrastructure, recently earning the No. 5 rank for “Best Science Lab Facilities” by Princeton Review. The Keck Center for Science and Engineering has become a vital hub for research, while the Rinker Health Science Campus in Irvine—home to the School of Pharmacy and many Crean College graduate programs—is at the forefront of regional health research.
Most recently, the university’s Institute for Quantum Studies moved into a new facility— the Daniele C. Struppa Research Park. The park includes a quantum research hub, which received a $2.43 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The hub focuses on foundational topics in quantum research, aiming to become a national center of excellence. The initiative brings together physicists and philosophers to explore the fundamental nature of reality.
The opening of the Keck Center marked a major milestone in the university’s rise as a center of scientific research and learning.
“The John Templeton Foundation grant establishing the Southern California Quantum Foundations Hub at Chapman University is a testament to the transformative impact of our faculty’s interdisciplinary research—both past and future,” Struppa said. “With this grant, our university is positioned to become the leading center for quantum foundations research in the United States, a field ripe with potential for significant scientific discoveries and a greater understanding of reality.”
Student housing has also expanded significantly, with the additions of Chapman Grand, K Residence Hall and Chapman Court.
In addition to expanding research capacity, Struppa has championed the arts, culture and local engagement with new spaces such as the Sandi Simon Center for Dance, Musco Center for the Arts and the Hilbert Museum of California Art.
The acclaimed Musco Center—a state-of-the-art, 1,100-seat concert hall—has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “an ideal opera house, potentially the best in the West.” The Hilbert Museum, now one of California’s top-rated attractions on Yelp and TripAdvisor, drew record attendance last year and was named one of the best new architectural projects by the LA Times.
Both venues have elevated student access to the arts while positioning Chapman as a cultural hub in Orange County.
“We have experienced tremendous success with Daniele as president,” said Parker Kennedy, who served as chair of the Chapman Board of Trustees from 2021 to 2024. “Daniele has made Chapman a stronger, more excellent and more special place.”
(From left) Matt Parlow, Daniele Struppa and Parker Kennedy pose for a photo.
LOOKING AHEAD
As Struppa looks toward September 2025—when he transitions from president to professor—he remains focused on collaboration and possibility. While proud of his time in office, he looks forward to spending more time with his first love.
Struppa fell for mathematics at age 5.
“So you might say it’s the longest love of my life,” he said with a smile. “I like its fundamental beauty, and its mystery—how it can bring things together. You study one object, then there’s another that seems very different, but it turns out they’re two faces of the same medal. Theories that seem distinct come together to solve the problem.”
Several research projects are already underway.
Struppa is working on two books—one with Marco Panza about the mathematical and philosophical nature of infinity, and another with a Greek philologist that examines “a commentary to a commentary of a Plato dialogue from the year 1000,” he said.
“Daniele has always understood that research is something you do in community,” said Panza, who met Struppa when both were undergraduates at the University of Milan five decades ago. Panza now serves as Kennedy Chair in Philosophy at Chapman.
When asked what he’ll miss most about being president, Struppa pointed to his love of problem-solving. He’ll miss working with others during the university’s most challenging moments.
“Chapman is one of those organizations that responds very well in a time of crisis,” he said. “Big challenges become a source of energy. It’s a time when I feel most alive because the work has the greatest impact.”
Struppa is confident that Chapman will continue to thrive after he passes the baton.
“This is a very welcoming community—one that cares deeply about the institution,” he said. “I know that our trustees will provide President-elect Matt Parlow with all the support he needs. I’ve never seen a group so genuinely committed to the mission.”
*Accurate at time of publication.
IT’S NOT ABOUT WHAT I HAVE DONE, IT’S ABOUT WHAT THE UNIVERSITY HAS DONE, IT’S ABOUT WHAT ALL OUR PEOPLE HAVE DONE TOGETHER.
President Daniele Struppa
Published in the print edition of the Chapman Magazine Summer 2025 Issue, with the headline
“The Struppa Years: A Legacy of Growth and Purpose.”
Photography and Videography by Adam Hemingway
Design by Vivian To and Cindy Harvard
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